YORK hospital has missed out on a £100,000 government bonus after failing to hit targets to end long waits in casualty departments.

The acute trust treated 96.4 per cent of patients within four hours of arrival at accident and emergency, said the Department of Health. The target is 97 per cent.

Now bosses have just three months to improve performance or face being marked down in the annual "star ratings" handed out to all NHS hospitals.

That could hamper York Health Service's chances of gaining independence from Whitehall control by securing its "foundation" trust status.

But Harrogate Health Care and Scarborough and North East Yorkshire acute trusts did hit the target - and scooped the £100,000, to be spent on improvements to buildings.

The figures, for the three months to December, show Harrogate treated 98.5 per cent of patients within four hours while Scarborough and North East Yorkshire dealt with 97.4 per cent.

Health minister Rosie Winterton insisted the overall picture was of a huge improvement, from 90 per cent of patients seen within four hours one year ago to 97per cent now.

She said: "Despite continuing high demand for emergency services, 19 out of 20 people are seen, diagnosed, admitted and treated within four hours in A&E.

"Now trusts that deliver real, significant and sustained improvements are getting financial rewards that match their achievements and help them to carry on improving services and facilities.

"This is just one example of how the NHS is getting better, with people receiving faster, quicker, personalised treatment."

All trusts are required to achieve a final target of 98 per cent of patients treated within four hours over the three-month period up to the end of next month.

The crackdown on long waits has been dogged by allegations that ambulance staff are deliberately delaying taking patients into casualty until the hospital is ready for them. But a Department of Health spokesman insisted cases of so-called "ambulance queuing" were very rare.

She said: "The clock measuring how quickly the patient is treated starts ticking 15 minutes after the ambulance arrives on the hospital concourse."

Casualty departments are busyier than ever - with more than 16 million patients seen last year, compared with 13 million in 1992.

Updated: 10:12 Saturday, February 12, 2005