Waiting times at A&E have worsened as doctors struggled with surges of extra patients.

The emergency departments at the infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital (CRH) have missed their targets for three weeks in a row.

The NHS requires A&E units to see 95% of patients within four hours.

The combined figures from HRI and CRH for the last week in September and first two in October, show performance has slipped to 94.3%, 92.5% and 93.1%.

The hospitals managed to meet the target for the first six months of 2014/15.

Attendances peaked the week ending October 5 with a total of 2,865 people coming through the doors – more than 400 per day.

A&E clinical lead Dr Mark Davies, said: “Throughout the year A&E experiences times when there are unexpected peaks and that has been the case in October.

“At the moment we are seeing, on average, an extra 40 to 50 patients a day and a higher proportion of patients attending A&E have required admission.

“This has brought extra pressures. However, we expect this to be temporary and are working with health colleagues across the area to ease the situation.”

But Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said the performance showed the proposal to consolidate the two towns' A&E departments was a mistake.

“It is deeply disturbing that the people of Huddersfield and Calderdale are being so badly let down,” he said.

“Timely access to A&E is hugely important to my constituents, as shown by the thousands of signatories to the petition to save local A&E services. This shows how much the NHS in England is being put under strain by the Coalition Government – and it’s not just a ‘blip’.

“Over the last year more than 10,000 people were left waiting in ambulances outside A&E in Yorkshire alone.

“Above all, this clearly shows that the plan to close one or more local A&Es is an incredibly ill-thought proposal that puts local people at risk.”

Dr Davies appealed for people to really consider how ill they were before they attended A&E.

“Accident and Emergency isn’t for all medical conditions,” he said. “To help our A&E teams care for those who really need them please ensure you seek the right care for your condition from the right place.

“For example, could you self-medicate with paracetamols from the medicine cupboard, visit your GP or a local pharmacy for your care or call NHS 111 where a call-centre health expert will point you in the right direction.”