The Royal Free Hospital has announced its commitment to reducing poor Accident and Emergency (A&E) department waiting times as winter pressures hit after reporting its worst performance for five years.

In a statement, the Hampstead hospital said it was “disappointing” that it had failed to meet its target of treating 95 per cent of patients within four hours in October.

However, the hospital, in Pond Street, has now put measures in place to tackle the problem - including opening 27 more beds and extending the opening hours of its urgent care centre.

The statement read: “We are disappointed that at the Royal Free Hospital, like many other hospitals in London, the target was missed.

“There has been a significant rise in the number of patients attending A&E between April and November this year, and those patients we are seeing are more unwell than those who attended A&E during the same period last year.”