THE chief executive of the trust which runs Basingstoke hospital has defended its accident and emergency figures after it failed to hit a Government target for a third quarter.

More patients than ever are coming through the doors of emergency departments, and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals, has seen a rise of nearly six per cent in patient numbers compared to last year.

As reported in the The Gazette, the trust has failed to hit a Government target ensuring 95 per cent of patients spend fewer than four hours in the emergency department for the third consecutive quarter.

This failure usually triggers intervention from Government health watchdog Monitor.

And during March, only 90.8 per cent of patients spent fewer than four hours in the emergency department despite a number of initiatives to try and hit the target, including an additional 60 beds across the three hospitals.

Mary Edwards, chief executive of HHFT has defended the trust this week after it failed to hit the Government target.

She told The Gazette: “Monitor will do whatever it feels it needs to do as the regulator but around the country most acute hospitals are struggling to hit the target and they are not all in major investigations with Monitor as a result of that.

“Our major problem that we are looking at is we have got patients who need onward care, whether that is a nursing home or their own home with a care package, and we are struggling to find the right sort of service for those patients whilst they’re waiting in our beds.”

Mrs Edwards said that they had increased the number of beds at Basingstoke hospital by around 30, and by 60 across the trust, and had increased the number of agency staff, with 80 members of agency staff working at the trust at its highest, to try and relieve the pressure on the accident and emergency department.

This number has now reduced to around 30.

She said that the trust is working closely with its partners to ensure people who need care packages or care homes are being accommodated.

Mrs Edwards added: “Normally things would have improved by now as the weather gets better but there is a big issue of patients in beds waiting to go elsewhere.

“It is not seasonal so it just depends on when enough places and carers can be found to send patients home.”

A Monitor spokesman said: “We are aware of the trust’s recent A&E performance, and will continue to monitor the trust’s efforts to reduce the amount of time its patients are waiting in accident and emergency.”