CONCERNS have been raised over A&E waiting times in Bradford, with Government ministers accused of "incompetence". 

Figures for last month show that 76 per cent of patients at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Bradford Royal Infirmary, were seen in A&E within four hours. 

The national average was 84.4 per cent, while the target is 95 per cent. 

Jo Pike, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Shipley constituency, said of the figures: “A&E waiting times across the country are now at their worst level since records began, and Bradford is suffering. It’s a damning indictment of how years of Tory austerity and wider cuts have hit the NHS here.

“Ministerial incompetence has left our NHS with chronic shortages of NHS staff with no clear idea of how to sort this out."

She said the figures reveal an NHS in "desperate crisis" and a Government "failing patients".

In response to NHS England’s monthly performance statistics, Nick Ville, Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation said: “The NHS is seeing ever-increasing numbers of patients in A&E and is buckling under the strain.

“Despite the best efforts of frontline staff, the number of patients in England treated within target times at A&E reached significant lows.

“Yet we should recognise that this is still an achievement for staff, despite us not meeting the target."

He added: “We need to find a more sustainable way of providing care to an increasingly ageing population with ever-more complex needs.

“The new NHS Long Term Plan, with its emphasis on joined-up community care, is good news for patients, who should see some of this intense pressure ease if the plan is implemented well."