WAITING times at Worcestershire Royal Hospital's accident and emergency department and Kidderminster Hospital can now be viewed online.

The live data, which updates every five minutes, forms part of a range of information available to patients to decide whether A&E is the right place to go to.

The page also gives information on the total number of patients in the hospital, how many of those are currently waiting to be seen, and signposts to the other healthcare services available in the county.

Penny Venables, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We hope the availability of the live waiting time information for the A&E departments will further enable patients who are considering coming to A&E but don’t have a life-threatening illness or injury to choose the most appropriate healthcare option for their need.

“There are a range of local NHS services in Worcestershire which may be quicker than A&E, and may even be closer to your home.

“Using the right service means treatment can be given quicker to those really in need of urgent care.”

Sarah Dugan, chief executive at Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “Our minor injury units provide a really good service to those whose condition doesn’t require urgent, emergency care.

“The waiting times in MIUs are just a fraction of what they can be in A&E and we have trained nurses who provide excellent standards of care and treatment.”

The waiting time data is available by visiting worcsacute.nhs.uk and wyreforestccg.nhs.uk