Hundreds more people attended Bucks A&E units this July, compared with 2017, which health bosses said was an "unprecedented summer surge" due to the heatwave.

NHS England figures show that 13,542 people attended the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust's (BHT) emergency departments last month, 795 more than in July 2017. Attendances in June were also higher than usual, with 12,772 patients arriving at A&E.

Nationally record numbers of people flooded to emergency departments in July, with respiratory problems, dehydration and other illnesses associated with the hot weather.

Across England almost 2.2 million patients attended A&E in July, 100,000 more patients than the same month in 2017, with emergency admissions also rising by 6.3%. This included patients visiting minor injury units and walk in centres, which are grouped with A&E departments.

An NHS England spokesman said: “As temperatures soared, the NHS saw an unprecedented summer surge last month with a record 2.2 million patients attending A&E, and, thanks to the hard work of staff, nine in 10 people were seen, treated and admitted or discharged within four hours."

At BHT 87.4% of people were seen, treated and admitted or discharged within the four hour target period.

That's down on July 2017 when 90.9% were dealt with in four hours. Hospitals are supposed to admit or discharge 95% of patients within the target time. Three years ago 97.5% were seen within four hours.

A spokesman for BHT said: “Across the country, more people are arriving at A&E than ever before, and this is also the case here in Buckinghamshire. The heatwave could certainly be a contributing factor in the surge in attendances this summer.

Even though attendances have been higher than in previous years, our urgent care teams have managed to keep average waiting times below the four hour national target.”