STRESS levels are rocketing among nurses at Worcester Royal Infirmary as the hospital is swamped with a never-ending stream of patients, a union official has warned.

Barry Earlam, chairman of WRI's Unison branch, fears that if the current beds crisis and transfer of health services from Kidderminster is not sorted out many nurses will be driven off work by sickness.

He spoke after revelations three ambulances were stacked up at the entrance to the hospital's accident and emergency department last Thursday night - the patients were forced to wait for more than an hour for a bed.

He said: "The stress levels for the nurses are beyond belief.

"At the moment we are being overwhelmed by all the changes. Over the course of the next few months a lot of facilities are being transferred into Worcester and I'm just hoping that all the staffing and bed levels are there."

He added many staff did not have the qualifications to take up more specialised jobs at the new £91 million PFI hospital.

"Morale is pretty low at the moment. Nobody seems to be able to tell us what the future holds," he said.

He said the stress was added to by the public's expectations.

"If you turn up at hospital, you are sick. You feel this is a place of sanctuary that's going to put you right and look after you but you get there and there's a queue or you're put on a trolley."