FOR the past six months, accident & emergency departments in Oxfordshire have not met targets to see patients within four hours of arrival.

And in the last week of March, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust was ranked the ninth worst in England for treating patients within four hours, compared to 24th worst for the same time last year.

According to NHS England figures, only 78.6 per cent of patients were seen within the four-hour window in the last week of March this year. The target is 95 per cent.

The Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which had to declare a “major incident” due to capacity issues in January, was ranked 10th worst in the country.

The last time Oxfordshire’s A&E departments met the 95 per cent target was in October last year, causing upset and anguish for patients.

Between January and April this year, only an average of 85.42 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.

Long Wittenham resident Ann Tomline had to wait four-and-a-half hours at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital to be treated for a suspected fractured hip in 2013.

The grandmother-of-four said she was shocked that the issue hadn’t improved.

The retired nursery teacher said: “I’m just sad that nobody seems to be listening.

“I was in agony when I was in A&E. If it wasn’t for the ambulance driver helping me I would have continued being in pain.

“I can’t blame the staff as they were so apologetic. The problem is they were rushed off their feet.”

Director of clinical services Paul Brennan said: “2013 was a particularly mild winter with no flu outbreaks.

“But this year we have had a few flu outbreaks and we have been dealing with people who are a lot older [who need inpatient treatment]. But we have begun to improve. Last week [starting April 13] our waiting time target hit 94.4 per cent [for seeing patients within four hours].”

He added that of all the people who attended A&E in the 2014/15 year, about 27 per cent were then admitted to hospital.

A&E departments in the county saw four per cent more visitors this year, or an additional 11 per day.