Airedale Hospital's Accident & Emergency department has been singled out as one of the best in the country.

The Steeton trust received two letters from Government health chiefs praising its emergency services for "consistently high performance in caring for patients quickly and efficiently."

The letters from health secretary Alan Milburn and under secretary of state for health David Lammy praised the hospital's elective care work.

They also singled out the use of new ideas and initiatives in the A&E department, such as the development of all senior nurses into specialist emergency nurses who are able to see and treat patients.

Trust bosses say that Airedale is ahead of the government target and the best in the region at seeing, treating and discharging patients in A&E within the recommended time of four hours.

The department is led by Melvin Birks, divisional manager for Acute Services, and service manager Steve Tomlinson.

Steve Tomlinson says: "The key to the department's success is the committed group of staff who not only work but live in the area, and they themselves want to provide a high quality service which continually gets better.

"We are a good team and Airedale Hospital is a place people want to work at because of the way we run the department and because of the atmosphere we have created."

The trust claims that staff consistently hit the target of seeing, treating and discharging 90 per cent of all patients within four hours of arrival at A&E.