Some patients are waiting up to four times longer than they should be before they are seen in Oxford's hospital emergency departments.

It comes as the Oxford Mail can reveal patients have also waited up to a total of seven-and-a-half hours at the John Radcliffe Hospital’s accident and emergency (A&E) ward.

Last night, hospital bosses denied there was a problem, and insisted they were meeting targets.

Government guidelines say patients arriving by ambulance should only wait 15 minutes for their initial assessment in A&E departments, but for some at the JR that increased to 69 minutes.

Targets demand that patients should spend no more than a total of four hours in A&E.

But according to Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUHT) figures for between July and September, for some that wait almost doubled.

In performance papers presented to a board meeting of NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, yesterday, the problem was listed as a ‘key issue requiring action’ .

It read: “A&E Quality indicators – time to initial assessment, time to treatment and total time spent in A&E department for admitted patients are all above target for both JR and (Banbury’s) Horton Hospital sites.

“The OUHT have an internal action plan to rectify the situation to improve data quality and data completeness.”

However, a hospital spokesman admitted they had “no idea” what the internal action plan was, and said as the OUHT was meeting targets of seeing 95 per cent of its patients within the time frames, they were “happy” and said they were “performing well”.

The Government requires hospital A&E departments see 95 per cent of patients within four hours.

But last night the hospitals trust would not say how many patients were left waiting longer than the target times.

Paul Brennan, director of clinical services at the OUHT, said: “We are pleased that we are meeting our target of seeing 95 per cent of our patients within four hours.

“In addition, the trust is meeting our patient timeliness and patient impact indicators.”

But Jacquie Pearce Gervis, of patient support group Patient Voice, said: “These figures are disappointing, but it’s something that’s been around for a long time.

“And that’s why people don’t like going to A&E.

“To be fair to them, they are under a lot of pressure.

“In my experience, if it is a real emergency, you are seen within a flash.

“Perhaps this is a good time to remind people there are other options rather than just turning up at A&E.”

Normally between 6,500 and 8,000 patients are seen at the county’s A&E departments each month.

Dan Eadle, 21, of Horspath, has a serious liver condition.

He manages it as best he can but when he was rushed to A&E at the JR with serious stomach pains, the care he received was excellent.

He said: “I know some people have problems, but when I went there I was seen within minutes.”