The busiest and quietest times of the week for accident and emergency services at hospitals in Bournemouth and Poole have been revealed.

It comes as A&Es across England are at breaking point, with attendance reaching pre-pandemic levels in November and a record proportion of patients facing waits of more than four hours.

Queues of ambulances have been seen outside both A&E departments with reports of long waits for patients.

NHS Digital figures show that the worst hours of the week to visit A&E departments at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust - Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital - were between 1am and 2am on Tuesdays and 2am and 3am on Tuesdays in the year to March.

Patients waited an average of six hours and 34 minutes to be either admitted to an inpatient ward, transferred elsewhere or discharged from hospital.

Meanwhile, the shortest waits were between 8am and 9am on Fridays, when patients waited an average of three hours and seven minutes.

Of the seven days of the week, Monday was the worst day overall to visit A&E, with patients waiting an average of four hours and 29 minutes, while Thursday was the best, when the average wait time dropped to four hours and 11 minutes.

Monday saw the highest average number of patients attending across the year, while Saturday saw the lowest.

The figures come as the NHS deals with increasing pressures during the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said he is supporting staff by "investing record amounts into health and social care, including committing an additional £8 billion for health and social care in 2024-25".

Mr Barclay added that some 7,000 extra beds will also be created and £500 million will see 24-7 support centres will be rolled out across England, "speeding up discharge from hospital and helping to ease pressures and get patients treated and out of hospital faster."