One in four patients are waiting longer than four hours in A&E at Northwick Park Hospital and Ealing Hospital.

Figures have revealed that a quarter patients attending A&E had to wait more than four hours to be seen at the hospitals in January.

It follows the publication of a report by the Independent Healthcare Commission for North West London calling for Central Middlesex Hospital A&E to be reopened to help take the pressure off Northwick Park.

More than 3,000 patients who attended A&E at Northwick Park and Ealing were not seen within the target timeframe - the second lowest figure in London.

The percentage of patients seen within four hours was 74.6 per cent for January, lower than the 95 per cent NHS target.

A Harrow politician said Harrow patients were waiting an "excessive and unfair amount of time at Northwick Park".

Speaking during the budget debate in Parliament on Monday, March 21, Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas raised concerns about the level of investment in NHS services in Harrow.

He called on the government to do more to alleviate the financial pressures on the Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group and London Northwest Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Northwick Park Hospital, and ensure that Harrow receives its fair share of funding for borough health services.

Mr Thomas, Labour, said: "Harrow has received the lowest amount of health spending per head over the last three years, so it is sadly unsurprising that such a crisis has risen.

"Thousands of patients are waiting an excessive and unfair amount of time at Northwick Park. It puts the safety and health of residents of Harrow at risk and the government needs to take urgent action to fix it.

"Our hardworking doctors and nurses try their best in the most difficult of circumstances, but when a Tory government fails to give Harrow its fair share, our NHS service will suffer."

The figures follow the publication of a report by the Independent Healthcare Commission for North West London into the 'Shaping a Healthier Future' programme, covering healthcare provision in North West London.

The report suggested that any further A&E closures should be stopped, particularly at Ealing and Charing Cross hospitals, and that Central Middlesex be reopened to alleviate the burden on overstretched departments including Northwick Park hospital.