Around 7 per cent of patients had to wait in A&E for more than four hours at the end of last year - the worst figures since records were first collected in 2004/05.

Around 7 per cent of patients had to wait in A&E for more than four hours at the end of last year – the worst figures since records were first collected.

The figures, released by NHS England and covering the last quarter of 2014, show that 92.6 per cent of patients visiting A&E were seen within four hours.

However in some areas as many as 25 per cent of patients waited more than four hours in A&E before being admitted.

The government’s target is that 95 per cent of patients should wait no longer than four hours in A&E.

At 92.6 per cent today’s figures are the worst quarterly figures since data was first measured in 2004/05, and fall below the previous low of 94.1 per cent recorded in the first three months of 2013.

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