DOCTORS and nurses in York faced their busiest Christmas this year after a festive surge of patients to the city's hospital and walk-in centre.

Staff at York Hospital's accident and emergency department (A&E) usually see a drop in the number of emergency admissions over Christmas, but this year there was a ten per cent increase in the average number.

There were 250 emergency admissions between Christmas Day and Sunday, although many other people visited the department and did not require a stay on the wards.

A spokesman said there was no single cause identified for the increase, such as a flu epidemic.

The NHS Walk-in Centre in Monkgate, York, was also busy over the festive period, with 531 using the nurse-led service between December 24 and 28.

This compares with 422 during the same period last year and 277 the year before.

A spokesman for York Health Services NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said staff had coped with the extra pressure and patients were not left waiting for a bed on the wards.

This is partly because most elective surgery is suspended until the new year so that patients can spend the festive period with their families. The spokesman said "Christmas 2003 was busier than usual for the trust with a slight increase of ten per cent in emergency admissions.

"Services were not affected due to the hard work of staff and the number of free beds.

"Patients awaiting surgery prefer to spend Christmas and new year with their families, leaving the trust with the extra capacity to deal with any increase in emergency admissions."

Updated: 10:12 Wednesday, December 31, 2003