Hospitals are fiddling a four-hour A&E wait target by using other wards as dumping grounds, the Conservatives say.
Data from 114 NHS trusts in England found many patients faced long waits in assessment units which did not count towards the waiting time.
Over a fifth of units reported keeping patients longer than the recommended 24 hours with the average wait being 17.
Doctors agreed the system was being abused in places, but the government said the research was “misleading”.
The Conservatives asked hospitals to provide data on their use of these wards under the Freedom of Information Act.
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Labour complacently claim that they have abolished long waits for patients being admitted to hospitals, but these figures show that all they have really done is fiddle the figures.”
Read more at BBC Health.
Tags: Targets
