A&E Patients Waiting More Than 4 Hours

6 January 2015, 16:01

Accident and emergency waiting times in England have fallen to their worst levels for more than a decade

At the Royal Cornwall Hospital, recent figures show that in the last week of December 2014, only 89.8% of people waiting to be seen at the Accident and Emergency department were seen within the four hour target time.

Nationally there are only 13 major hospitals which have met the 95% target.

That week, 1069 people went to A&E here and 109 people had to wait for more than 4 hours to be seen.

Between July and September 2014, the Royal Cornwall Hospital had the highest percentage of patients waiting over 4 hours, at 20.7%.

With the exception of South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, the Royal Cornwall Hospital had the worst waiting times in the South West.

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital had 93.7% of patients seen within four hours, and Derriford Hospital in Plymouth saw 90.3% of patients within the target time.

The quarterly figures show that across England, just 92.6% of patients were treated within the four-hour time limit.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says the figures are "disappointing" and the government are "determined to bring down waiting times".