Dozens of A&E patients waited more than 30 minutes before entering the county's hospitals after arriving in ambulances, figures reveal.

The latest available NHS England data shows 790 patients arrived at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Emergency Departments at the John Radcliffe and Banbury's Horton General, by ambulance between December 28 and January 3.

Of these 53 had to wait between 30 and 60 minutes to be transferred.

This is slightly up from the previous seven days, covering December 21-27, when 51 people had to wait that long from 775 people who where taken to A&E by ambulance.

ALSO READ: Millions paid by hospital trust in negligence cases

Unlike Christmas week however, when seven had to wait longer than an hour, no patient during this period was left for more than 60 minutes.

National guidance says patients arriving at an emergency department by ambulance must be handed over to the care of A&E staff within 15 minutes.

The busiest day was December 29 when 18 patients had to wait at least 30 minutes.

A delay does not necessarily mean the patient waited in the ambulance itself – but staff were not available to complete the handover.

Data on delayed ambulance transfers is collected each winter by the NHS as an indication of how much pressure local hospital trusts are under.