The main hospital trust serving Brighton and Hove missed the four-hour target for almost a quarter of patients who turned up in its accident and emergency (A&E) departments.
Just 76.5 per cent of patients were admitted, discharged or transferred by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust within four hours of arriving at A&E. The target is 95 per cent.
The trust runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and the Sussex Eye Hospital in Kemp Town. It also has an A&E department at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
According to the BBC, the NHS in England has missed its four-hour target for the past three months and performance is at its lowest level for a decade.
Of 140 major hospital trusts, just 16 performed worse than the Brighton trust, with only 22 meeting the 95 per cent target for dealing with patients within four hours.
The BBC said that 2,736 visited the Brighton trust’s A&E departments last week, up 309 on the previous week.
Of those 890 were admitted to hospital by A&E staff, down 25 on the previous week.
A total of 643 patients waited more than four hours before being admitted, discharged or transferred, up 130 on the previous week.
The BBC also said that 194 ambulances queued outside the trust’s A&E departments, up 72 on the previous week.
It also found that 133 beds were blocked by patients who were medically fit for discharge, up 15, and 27 planned operations had to be cancelled, up 15 from 12 a week earlier.
Fewer days were lost to norovirus – or the winter vomiting bug – with the figure dropping 13 to 214 last week.
