RECORD numbers of emergency patients at Northampton General Hospital have been blamed for the hospital being among the most consistently full in England during January.
NGH was ranked seventh worst out of 159 hospitals in the country in a league table showing how often there were no beds available for new patients.
Figures from the Dr Foster analysis organisation showed NGH was at 100 per cent capacity on 12 out of the 22 days measured.
A spokeswoman for NGH said: “Like many other hospitals in the country NGH saw record numbers of patients attending at our A&E department during January, many of whom required admission to hospital. At all times patient safety remains paramount.
“We know that admissions increase during winter and we therefore opened an additional 28 beds during November 2012.”