OXFORDSHIRE’S hospitals are continuing to miss the four-hour waiting target for A&E but are performing well compared to the national picture, new figures from NHS England have revealed.

Data released this week show that over the course of December a total of 12,350 people attended emergency departments at the John Radcliffe and Horton General Hospitals.

Of these 91.1 per cent were seen by a doctor and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. A key NHS commitment is to to keep this figure at 98 per cent as far as possible.

At the same time 212 people faced ‘trolley waits’ of between four and 12 hours while waiting for a bed.

Sites run by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are currently on an operational pressures escalation levels (OPEL) 3 alert, the second-highest level of alert possible, which warns against ‘significant deterioration’ in A&E waiting times.

Addressing the Oxfordshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee last week, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group chief operating officer Diane Hedges said: “At times it becomes a challenge. We are not meeting the target but we are doing better than others.”

Across the board just 86.2 per cent of the 1,943,580 people who went to A&E during December were dealt with within four hours as the NHS continues to feel the winter strain.

Raw data leaked to the BBC appears to paint a gloomier picture still for January, with the four-hour wait target only reached in 82 per cent of cases and more than 60,000 people waiting for between four and 12 hours in A&E for a hospital bed - meaning January 2017 could be the worst-performing month on record for 13 years.

A Department of Health spokesman said the vast majority of patients were seen and treated quickly.