BOLTON continues to miss national ambitions for patient treatment times.

Latest figures from Royal Bolton Hospital show the continuing struggle to hit targets set by the NHS.

It comes as new analysis has found that long A&E waits have doubled across the UK in the last four years.

The town’s health bosses have lamented their position as they reach the half way mark of the financial year.

At the recent meeting of the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust board, chief operating officer Andy Ennis said staff had been working hard to hit the three main NHS targets of A&E waiting times, operational referral times and cancer care times.

Mr Ennis said: “There are three standards here and two are failing. We are absolutely failing on A&E at the moment.

“We have struggled with A&E for a year now and now referral for treatments is a worry as we struggle to hold the target.

“I haven't been given assurances as yet that we have the capacity to retrieve that standard in a timely manor.”

Bolton has been tasked with improving its emergency room waiting times by NHS Improvement but has so far failed to do so.

While it has improved on last year, only 88 per cent of people were seen within the four hour target in October.

It also falls below the national average of just over 90 per cent and leaves it ranked 80th out of 133 trust across the country, according to recently published analysis by the BBC.

Staff have been attempting to see 92 per cent of patients and bosses believe they may not hit the target again for November as pressures increase.

Patients also waited longer than expected for planned operations and care – know as referral to treatment (RTT) – with only 91.4 per cent seen within 18 weeks, compared to the national goal of 92 per cent.

Priori to September the trust had hit the target month on month.

However, in the area of cancer care treatments, Bolton has been excelling.

In October 87.2 per cent of patients began treatment within 62 days of urgent GP referral, compared to a national average of just 82 per cent and the NHS target of 85 per cent.

Trust chairman David Wakefield added: “The A&E pressure is there right across the whole country.

“You warned us last month of the pressures on RTT and what I’m hearing is we are unlikely to meet it by January.”