West Hertfordshire hospitals met the NHS recovery target last month as more than three-quarters of A&E arrivals were seen within four hours.

Last year, the government announced a two-year plan to stabilise NHS services which set a recovery target of 76% of patients being seen within four hours by March this year. 

NHS England figures show that West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Watford General, saw 78 per cent of the 17,289 people who went to A&E within that time frame last month.

It means the trust met the recovery target but fell short of the pre-pandemic NHS standard of 95 per cent.

At West Hertfordshire hospitals, 1,061 patients waited longer than four hours, including 44 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

The NHS missed the benchmark nationwide as just 74 per cent of patients were seen within four hours, up from 71 per cent the month before.

About 2.4 million people attended A&E departments across England last month, making it the busiest month ever and 9% higher than March last year.

The total attendance to West Hertfordshire A&E departments also rose by 11 per cent on February and by 10 per cent on the same period last year.