HOSPITALS in Hampshire are failing to meet treatment time targets in their accident and emergency departments.

Hospitals across the country have have been set a target of 95 per cent of patients to be seen and treated within four hours.

But Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which includes Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and hospitals in Andover and Basingstoke - failed to meet the targets.

A total of 121,543 people were seen in accident and emergency departments, but only 86.3 per cent were seen within four hours, missing the target by around ten per cent.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of the trust, said: “We are proud of what we achieved over the course of 2016/17, but we are always looking for new ways to reduce the amount of time people spend waiting to receive treatment in our emergency departments.”

In Southampton, only 89.5 per cent were dealt with within the four-hour time limit.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Southampton General, saw 117,794 in A&E from April 2016 until March of this year. Of those 12, 313 spent more than four hours there before being treated, discharged or admitted for further treatment.

Despite missing the 95 per cent national target, the trust praised its staff.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “As a large regional teaching hospital and a major trauma centre, continue to see a growth in the number of patients with complex injuries and illnesses requiring urgent care.

“It is testament to the efforts of staff not only in the emergency department but across the trust who work tirelessly every day to ensure we provide the best possible care despite the significant challenges presented by the increasing number of patients we are seeing.”

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