Bosses from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) attended a crisis meeting led by NHS Improvement after latest figures revealed that the hospital has the 11th worst A&E department in the country.

Bosses of the worst A&E units in the country were hauled in by NHS chiefs after struggling to meet targets requiring 95 per cent of patients to be treated within four hours.

Latest figures show that the NNUH saw 75.9pc of patients inside four hours in January with a total of 9,391 patients coming through the department's doors. This is the 11th worst record of any A&E department in the country.

Richard Parker, NNUH Chief Operating Officer confirmed staff from the hospital attended a meeting provided by NHS Improvement and said the department is under great pressure.

'Nationally there is recognition that A&E departments are under great pressure with more attendances and more emergency admissions compared to a year ago,' he said.

'Against this national picture, we attended a workshop called by NHS Improvement that reflected the scale of the challenge we are experiencing with very high levels of attendance and admissions.

'A clear message from NHS Improvement was the importance of recognising the hard work of our teams which have done a great job to keep the service running in such difficult circumstances.'

A total of 30 NHS trusts were called to the meeting and the NNUH was the only one called from this region.