THE Health Secretary praised efforts to tackle accident and emergency waits in Oxfordshire as figures show a hospital authority recorded its worst ever results.

Jeremy Hunt said assessing people who arrive at A&E as soon as possible like in Oxfordshire can make a ‘big difference’.

It comes after figures released on Tuesday showed the worst-ever quarterly performance for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

From October to December, 86.1 per cent of patients were discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours of arrival. The target is 95 per cent.

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The trust, which has A&E at Oxford’s John Radcliffe and Banbury’s Horton General hospitals, said rising visits were putting pressure on waits.

Mr Hunt spoke in response to comments from Banbury Conservative Sir Tony Baldry about county services in the Commons on Wednesday.

Sir Tony said: “They are trying to triage patients essentially at the door of A&E so that those who need to go in can do so and those who need primary care get it.”

Mr Hunt said: “Those are exactly the kinds of initiatives that can make a big difference, indeed, they are recommended by the College of Emergency Medicine.”

He said the long-term solution is more care closer to home to keep people out of hospital.

But Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi said the closure of walk-in centres ‘is the reason so many people are going to A&E’ and called for ‘proper funding’ to ensure ‘a proper health and social care budget for the elderly and vulnerable’.

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