FRUSTRATING – that was the verdict from the chief executive of the trust which runs Basingstoke hospital on the continuing failure to meet a government target for its accident and emergency waiting times.

As previously reported by The Gazette in May, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals, failed to hit a government target ensuring 95 per cent of patients spend fewer than four hours in the emergency department.

Failure usually triggers intervention from health watchdog Monitor.

Despite a number of initiatives, including an extra 60 beds across the three hospitals, the trust has failed to hit the target again, with 92 per cent of patients spending fewer than four hours in the emergency department.

During July, only 92.9 per cent of patients were seen and treated within four hours.

Mary Edwards, chief executive of HHFT, defended the trust, saying it was reducing the number of agency staff it uses and had recruited new staff locally.

She told The Gazette that the wait is very “frustrating” for people who come to the emergency department but are not life-threatening cases. She said clinical staff are ensuring the sickest patients receive the most appropriate care.

Mrs Edwards said the trust’s main problem is the number of patients who need onward care, adding: “We are still working closely with the county council in how we get patients discharged even more quickly.

“The major issue for the council council is access to carers and predominantly patients are returning home with packages of care.”

Asked if the trust is worried numbers attending A&E will rise in the winter, Mrs Edwards said: “We need to make sure we are ready for that and look at what we can do. If it does go up again, I think it probably won’t go up a lot.”

She said the winter causes problems for those with respiratory problems.

A Monitor spokesman said: “We will continue to monitor the trusts’ efforts to reduce the amount of time its patients are waiting in A&E.”