St George’s Hospital claims an increased demand from patients caused its A&E department to miss national targets on waiting times throughout January.
In each week of January the hospital failed to meet the target of seeing 95% of accident and emergency admissions within four hours.
In a statement St George’s cited a record demand on the department as the reason for missing these targets.
It read: “St George’s has one of Britain’s most advanced and busiest A&E departments.
“A combination of winter pressures and diverted services has meant that we are currently seeing a record number of patients.”
In the week ending January 4, 83.1% patients were seen in the recommended time, while during the second week it increased to 85.4%.
During the third week this jumped to 90.4% and in the final week of January 93% of patients were seen within the four-hour target, equating to an increase of almost 10% over the month.
The hospital insists its staff continue to work at maximum capacity to deal with as many patients as possible.
A spokesman said: “Our dedicated staff continue to deliver the best quality of care possible during this period of increased pressure.
“Maintaining the safety of our patients is, and always will be, the absolute priority for the trust.”
The news comes after it was announced that St George’s was granted Foundation Trust status by health regulator Monitor earlier this week.
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