The number of casualty patients forced to wait more than 12 hours on trolleys in Oxfordshire rose dramatically in January.

Accident and emergency units at the John Radcliffe, in Headington, Oxford, and The Horton, Banbury, saw a total of 48 patients waiting more than 12 hours last month -- equivalent to the total number of long trolley waits for the final three months of last year.

Managers at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, which is responsible for both casualty departments, blamed the sudden increase on a wave of highly infectious illness.

Many hospital patients caught the virus and were unable to be discharged.

Beds next to them were closed while they recovered, so that the illness did not spread.

The wave of sickness reached its peak in the week between Monday, January 7, and Sunday, January 13, when 165 patients were forced to wait between four and 12 hours in casualty.

The week before, the number of waiting patients was 96.

The patients' charter states that once casualty patients have been assessed, they should be admitted to a ward within two hours.

The trust's performance is gauged by Government targets including the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in casualty.

Between January and March 2001, 280 people waited more than 12 hours on trolleys -- contributing to the trust's no-star rating last year.

ORH spokesman Helen Peggs said managers had been working very hard to reduce the long waits.

She said: "In the final three months of last year, the trust managed to drive this number down to 48. Unfortunately, between Christmas and New Year we were hit by diarrhoea and vomiting in the community, in the hospitals and among staff.

"One of the effects of this was 48 trolley waits over January.

"This is less than ideal, but is still lower than the same period last year.

"The figures might have been a lot higher, had we not worked to tackle issues such as bed-blocking and to try to ensure that patients were cared for in the right setting, whether that be a hospital or community hospital bed, in a nursing home or at home."

Ms Peggs said it was hoped a new trauma unit which is due to be opened later this year, creating an extra 48 beds at the JR, would improve the situation.