Waiting times in Accident and Emergency units in England have improved to their best level since last November figures show, but their overall target is still being missed.
Targets still are not being met
In the seven days up until Sunday, a total of 92.4% of patients were seen within four hours of arriving at the unit.
However, the target is set at 95% and that has been missed on a consecutive weekly basis since the start of October, 2014.
Until this latest week, performance since records began in 2010 had dropped to its lowest levels, with the first week of January seeing stats lower than 87%.
Latest week records could have been helped by the number of attendances at the units falling, with it being suggested that people are finally heeding warnings only to visit A&E in an emergency, after weeks of negative headlines.
NHS England's Dame Barbara Hakin commented that whilst demands are "eased" slightly, the service is still facing "huge pressures on its frontline services."
"For the second successive week there has been an improvement in A&E performance. It is encouraging.
"But I want to pay tribute to out staff for the excellent job they are doing in continuing to provide an incredibly robust response."
Only 29 of the 140 major hospital trusts met their target, with a rise also being seen in delayed discharges, meaning a hospital's unable to release a patient despite their treatment being completed, because of the community's lack of support.
This problem has now been highlighted as a key reason for hospitals struggling in the New Year, as delays mean the process and flow of patients through the hospital system has to slow down.
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