Terminally ill patients in west Hertfordshire are having to wait more than 90 minutes for transport to and from hospital.

According  to NHS targets all ‘end of life’ patients requiring non-emergency patient transport should be collected within an hour and a half.

But data shows that up until August this year, just 64 per cent of patients in the west Herts area were collected within the target time.

That means one in three are having to wait more than an hour and a half to be collected.

The data – presented to a meeting of the Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group board on November 8 – also shows that just 58 per cent of those ‘end of life’ patients were collected within the hour, compared to an NHS target of 95 per cent.

The time taken to collect these patients does not include a 60-minute notice period.

The performance report for the Herts Valleys CCG board says the East of England Ambulance Service has not met its non-emergency transport targets since it took over the service in January – with the exception of call answering targets.

The data shows that so far this year just 76 per cent of  other patients have been collected within an hour of their planned pick-up time – compared to a national target of 95 per cent.

That means one-in-four of those patients – including day cases, transfers, preplanned discharges and renal dialysis patients – have had to wait more than an hour.

Just 56 per cent of ‘on the day’ discharges’ have been collected within 90 minutes of the allotted time, according to the report – compared to a national target of 95.

The figures were also poor for getting patients to appointments on time.

Just 64 per cent of patients arrived before their appointment time, compared to an NHS target of 90 per cent.

Meanwhile just 62 per cent of patients arrived on time for renal dialysis, compared to a target of 90 per cent.

According to the non-emergency transport data presented to the CCG board, almost one in three (32 per cent) of the ambulance trust's posts are currently vacant.

They say the service is particularly struggling to recruit crews in the Watford area.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “The East of England Ambulance Service have stepped in to run this contract following the liquidation of the private provider Private Ambulance Service Ltd.

“We continue to actively recruit staff  to this contract and work closely with all partners to build and provide excellence for patients.

“We are currently working closely with the clinical commissioning group to continue to improve this situation. We welcome applications for staff who want to provide care to patients in this area.”

According to the report to the CCG board, its staff are in daily contact with the ambulance trust, and there have been meetings between the trust and CCG chief executive Kathryn Magson about the financial pressures, quality, recruitment and retention.