In two months, 671 patients – an average of 11 a day – waited longer than the government-set target time in our area.

Breaches have more than quadrupled from the 119 recorded in the same period last year.

Health officials put the increase down to a four per cent rise in people turning up at the emergency department at Queen Alexandra Hospital along with treatment units in Gosport and on Portsea Island.

A massive 42,000 people swamped the departments in April and May – a year-on-year hike of almost 2,000.

Health officials have raised concerns as the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust usually performs strongly against the four-hour wait target at this time of year – which helps during the busy winter months.

A trust spokesman said: 'Our current performance is fractionally below the national target of 98 per cent and stands at 97.85 per cent.

'We are disappointed that we are not meeting this national target and are working hard to improve our performance and to make the experience of patients who visit the emergency department better.'

Trust managers have now nominated special 'queue nurses' who take patients from ambulance crews, freeing up the paramedics to return to duty.

They are also working with South Central Ambulance NHS Trust who are using a 'split crew' system in which only one worker stays with the patient.

This means their partner can team up with another ambulance and reduce the number of vehicles queuing outside the hospital.

The trust, which runs QA, includes getting more doctors into the emergency department so patients can be seen more quickly and opening more beds.

The spokesman added: 'We are also working with our community partners including GPs, social services and the ambulance service to ensure that people can be treated in their own homes whenever possible and that patients can be discharged as soon as possible after they have completed their inpatient treatment.'

7,000 PEOPLE EMPLOYED

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust – which manages St Mary's Hospital in Milton and the new £256m Queen Alexandra in Cosham – is one of the largest acute trusts in the country.

The trust employs about 7,000 staff.

More than 500,000 patients a year benefit from its acute and specialist care.

Last year it was ranked excellent for quality of services and good for use of resources by health watchdog The Healthcare Commission – which has now merged with other organisations to form the Care Quality Commission.

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