Ambulance crews are having to make a 200 mile round trip to reach emergency patients in North Staffordshire

Ambulance crews are having to make 200-mile round trips to reach emergency patients in north Staffordshire amid hospital handover delays in the county, a senior official has said.

Vivek Khasu, strategy and engagement director at West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), said there were times when crews had to be sent from as far away as Warwick or Hereford to respond to 999 calls in Staffordshire.Locally, ambulance handover delays remain high at University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM), the trust running Royal Stoke Hospital and Stafford's County Hospital.

In June, handovers were taking one hour and 24 minutes on average. The national target is 15 minutes.