A HOSPITAL campaigner has derided health chiefs for blaming the "busy" New Year period for failing to meet bed targets.

Health Concern prospective parliamentary candidate Dr Richard Taylor said Worcestershire must have been the only place in Britain with winter pressures if this was true.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust blamed the New Year period for failing to meet national targets for admitting patients to beds.

Dr Taylor said: "There were no winter pressures elsewhere in the country and I don't recall anything being said about one in Worcestershire."

The trust failed to reach a 90 per cent national standard.

Patients should not wait more than two hours for a bed once a decision has been taken by A&E to admit them.

But figures for January show the trust only achieved this in 65 per cent of cases.

More than 20 per cent had to wait two to four hours and 15 per cent waited more than four hours.

A trust spokesman said: "The trust regrets that in January some patients admissions through A&E did not meet the national standard of 90 per cent.

"This was due to winter pressures reflecting in a particularly busy New Year period.

"This will be one of the priority areas for the trust over the next 12 months and a new national target."