Brighton hospital misses A&E waiting time target

Just over half of A&E patients in Brighton were seen within four hours last month

A Brighton hospital is failing to meet targets for A&E waiting times, new figures show.

Last month just over half (55%) of accident and emergency patients at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were seen within four hours - the target is 78%.

One in 10 patients brought by ambulance also waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E staff at the hospital.

A report shared with Brighton & Hove City councillors by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals' chief executive, George Findlay, also showed a "high number" of patients spent more than 12 hours waiting to be seen in the hospital's emergency department.

Dr Findlay said the NHS trust was taking "a series of shorter-term improvement actions" alongside a £48m "rebuild" of the A&E department.

One of the actions involved paying the British Red Cross to work with "high intensity users" of A&E services, who attend the department five or more times a year.

High intensity users often had poor mental health and drink or drug issues, or were lonely and isolated, according to the report.

The BBC reported in May that a stroke patient who arrived at the hospital's A&E department waited more than 36 hours on a trolley.

During a meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council's health overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday, Dr Findlay said the trust was aware it had "significant challenges" in delivering the standard of care "we want for our patients".

But he added that the NHS the workforce was committed to putting patient care first.