Agency targets cause Brit patient delays

LONDON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- British National Health Service directives are leaving some sick Brits sitting just outside hospitals in order to meet performance targets, it was reported.

The Mail on Sunday reported the Labor policy to not allow patients into hospitals unless they can be treated within four hours has left scores of patients sitting in ambulances just outside the medical facilities.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said the delays not only pose a health risk to patients, but keep ambulances occupied and unable to answer emergency calls.

"This is evidence of shocking systematic failure in our emergency services," Lamb said. "As well as thousands of patients being stuck in ambulances when they should be getting urgent treatment, there will be countless others left waiting longer for ambulances to arrive."

The Mail said current figures show that last year alone, an estimated 43,576 people were forced to wait for more than an hour to enter a British emergency medical unit for treatment.