PATIENTS faced four or five hour waits for treatment in North-East hospitals, according to the UK's last ever nationwide casualty watch.

A snapshot of waiting times in the region's hospital accident and emergency units showed that some patients faced long waits for treatment.

In the worst case reported to The Northern Echo, an elderly patient queuing for admission at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Gateshead, waited five hours and 17 minutes.

One other patient waited over five hours at Gateshead, while patients waited just under five hours at Darlington Memorial Hospital and Dryburn Hospital, in Durham.

Three hours was the longest wait faced at Newcastle General Hospital - a 72-year-old man with long-standing pain, who was going home.

The longest wait on Teesside was a two and a half hour stint at Middlesbrough General Hospital, an improvement on last year's longest wait of four hours and 33 minutes.

At North Tees General Hospital, Stockton, only two patients were waiting, but one had been queuing for nearly two hours.

David Woodhead, chief officer of North Durham Community Health Council, said: "In a way, we were disappointed that the maximum wait of four hours and 45 minutes did not reflect the eight and 12 hour waits we have heard about at Dryburn.

"These long waits reflect a lack of resources."

At Darlington Memorial Hospital, 18 patients were waiting for treatment, compared to seven last year.

A 28-year-old man on a trolley, who was due to see a surgeon for a medical exam, had been waiting for four hours and 50 minutes, when CHC observers visited.

At Bishop Auckland General Hospital all three patients in Accident and Emergency had received attention on arrival.