TIME spent by patients waiting in ambulances to be admitted to casualty departments at Oxfordshire hospitals has soared, according to new figures.

Ambulances spent 399 hours queuing outside the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in January, compared with 251 hours the same month in 2009, and 328 hours in February, compared with 255 in February 2009.

At the Horton Hospital, in Banbury, the amount of time spent waiting jumped from 22 hours in January 2009 to 70.2 hours this January, and from 13.5 hours in February 2009 to 63.9 hours last month.

That means the amount of time spent waiting at the Horton more than tripled in three years, while it rose nearly 44 per cent at the JR.

Prof Edward Baker, medical director of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospitals, said: “At times our emergency departments and hospitals are exceptionally busy.

“This winter we have seen more patients than ever before.

“Our teams work hard to minimise delays for patients at every stage of their treatment, not least when they arrive in the care of ambulance staff.”

NHS Oxfordshire is fined £2.44 for every minute ambulances have to wait outside accident and emergency units beyond a Government target of 15 minutes.

From April 2010 until March last year, the trust paid about £400,000 to the South Central Ambulance Service in fines.

From April to September last year, it had to pay £21,510.

Delays tend to be longer during the busy winter months.

Chris Ringwood, of North Oxfordshire Patient Voice, said: “I wasn’t aware that there was still an issue.

“Obviously, the situation is dire but I don’t know what the answer is. It’s a situation we simply cannot tolerate continuing, but what do we do if they haven’t got a bed for people when they turn up?”

Prof Baker said the hospitals worked with the ambulance service to make sure patients were treated promptly, and said during busy periods, staff were moved to areas of high demand, while a nurse supported ambulance staff while patients were waiting to be admitted.

Across the region covered by the South Central Ambulance Service, 1,794 hours were lost in hospital waits in February, up from 1,094 hours a year ago.

Ambulance service spokes-man James Keating-Wilkes said the trust took 1,030 emergency calls every day.

He added: “We’re working closely with colleagues in the hospitals to understand the pressure points and constantly review and refine our data to ensure it identifies issues we need to work on together.”

A new £15.7m electronic patient record system brought in at the JR and Horton last December saw ambulances queuing outside due to admission delays. However, spokesman Kelly Dodgson said this was not thought to be a factor in the missed targets.