Airedale Hospital’s accident and emergency department needs a “significant upgrade” to reduce overcrowding.

The admission from the Airedale NHS Trust appears in a report submitted by the Patient and Carer Panel, which visited A&E in February of this year.

The group was set up in October 2007 to help improve the experience of hospital users.

Panel members concluded Airedale A&E staff were doing a good job under continuous pressure in difficult surroundings.

Their report stated the facility was “far from satisfactory”, adding: “This department was built to cope with a very different A&E department and is struggling with the space available”.

In its written response to the report, Airedale NHS remarked: “The trust has acknowledged that the A&E department needs a significant upgrade of its current facilities.

“As an interim measure, a records room has been converted into two tele-medicine suites, which will double up when not in use as clinical treatment rooms. We need to be sensitive that our current facilities are tired and cramped and this can give the impression that the department is not always clean and tidy.

“The department receives compliments in the ratio of three for every one complaint and that shows the users of the department do appreciate the services provided.”