EMERGENCY treatment of patients at Basingstoke hospital has speeded up so much that, by December, 98 per cent will be seen, discharged or given a bed within four hours.

A meeting of hospital staff at The ARK medical facility heard how progress towards this NHS target has been rapid, as one in 10 patients were still having to wait more than four hours in September last year.

Consultant Dr Carl Brookes - who has led the year-long effort to hit the new targets - said: "There have been massive changes over the last year.

"What a superb effort staff have put in. From the point of view of the patients, this is absolutely fantastic."

He told the meeting of consultants, nurses and managers that staff had adapted well to big changes that included more responsibility for health professionals other than doctors.

But although there had been great successes, he said attitudes - including those of GPs - had to change to meet the challenges ahead.

He said: "We still have times when people have to wait in corridors and people work in intolerable conditions."

Dr Brookes said there were also delays in assessing patients and in sending them home.

In future, there needed to be a greater degree of separation between patients with minor injuries and those with more serious problems.

Improved co-operation was also needed across the boundaries of primary care trusts, the ambulance service and residential homes.

He said: "We need better use of alternatives to admission to hospital and I'm not sure GPs know that."

Dr Brookes added the shift in responsibility for out-of-hours cover from GPs to the North Hampshire Primary Care Trust would also add to the workload of the emergency department.

Discussions with the care trust would be required to smooth out the transition.

Medium-term changes to emergency provision at other hospitals in the region could also result in more patients from the Andover area coming to Basingstoke, he warned.

He said as part of its effort to hit the national targets, the emergency team has implemented 77 changes and has received £200,000 in NHS incentive payments for hitting targets.