Patients with the most serious medical cases at Northwick Park and Ealing Hospital A&E units faced the worst waiting times in London last week.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Andy Burnham is Labours Shadow Health SecretaryAndy Burnham is Labours Shadow Health Secretary (Image: Archant)

Figures released today show both hospitals, which are managed by London North West Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH), saw just 62.7 per cent of ‘type 1’ patients within four hours of their arrival - the government target is 95 per cent.

The shocking figures have resulted in the trust being named as the fifth worst in the country for the last seven days leading up to Sunday.

However the trust fared better with the A&E waiting times for all patients, including walk-in cases, with 85.4 per cent being seeing within four hours.

Last month Northwick Park Hospital in Watford Road, Sudbury, opened a £21miliion new casualty unit to cope with an increase in patients following the closure of the A&E department at Central Middlesex Hospital in September.

The closure was a result of the government’s controversial ‘Shaping a healthier future plans’ which also saw Hammersmith Hospital lose its casualty unit and plans to axe the A&E unit at Charing Cross hospital.

Proposals to close the A&E department at Ealing Hospital were shelved but its maternity ward will go and other services downgraded.

Sarah Cox, a health campaigner from Harlesden, told the Times the news comes as no surprise as the closures of A&E units in north and west London have had a knock-on effect.

She added: “The health chiefs have to stop and take notice. I don’t want to say I told them so but we all knew this was going to happen.

“What is now vital is that any future closures are stopped because if they go ahead with the axing of Charing Cross A&E unit and the downgrading of Ealing hospitals it will be catastrophic.”

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said the trust’s waiting times were shocking.

He told the Times: “Last week was the worst week the NHS has experienced in living memory- and the shocking figures for London North West will be deeply worrying for people living locally.

“The government’s failure to produce a plan to deal with the crisis cannot carry on. Their complacency is exposing far too many vulnerable people to too much risk - both in Brent, Ealing and Harrow and across the country.

“Labour has today issued a five point plan and we call on the government to adopt it without delay.”

Tina Benson, the trust’s director of operations said: “Northwick Park Hospital is not unique in experiencing pressures on A&E performance.

“We know that bed capacity remains an important challenge for the Trust and in December we opened 44 new beds and an additional 66 new beds are planned for this year.

“We are also working to improve the speed and flow of patients from the A&E departments to our wards, out to community health services and, where it is safe to do so, back to their own homes.”

Earlier this week the trust was revealed to have had the third worst performance for A&E waiting times in London in the last three months with 87.3 per cent being seen within four months.