A new target which set a maximum of three hours for patients to be handed over from ambulances to emergency departments has been missed on hundreds of occasions.
Health chiefs set the target in December as part of a series of measures to alleviate pressures in emergency departments across Northern Ireland's hospitals.
However, new figures released by Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) show the target has been missed on 16% of occasions when ambulances have arrived at hospital, with one area failing to meet the three-hour limit on more than a third of occasions.
