A FURIOUS patient who waited 12 hours at Wycombe Hospital with a serious wound to his hand said urgent action is needed to improve the NHS.

Jason Brewster, 26, of Adelaide Road, High Wycombe, said his ordeal shows that the hospital's accident and emergency department is still in crisis.

He said: "It is disgusting to have to wait 12 hours for treatment. I felt really uncomfortable sitting there for hours and I wasn't the only one.

"It's not the doctors or nurses, but the hospital or the Government need to do something about this," he told Midweek.

Jason went into the A&E department on June 23, at around 5.45pm, hoping to get a deep cut in his fingers stitched up.

He hurt himself paintballing with friends when he fell and sliced his fingers on a sharp piece of flint.

Jason said staff told him it was vital that he was treated that night and he would be seen in a few hours. But five hours later he was still waiting.

He and his partner, Kate, were then told that he had been pushed to second on the list of priorities but yet again he sat waiting for another four hours in the department.

Eventually he was treated and left the hospital after 5am, almost 12 hours after he arrived.

Jason said that the staff were under enormous pressure as they tried their best to do their jobs and deal with people complaining because they had to wait so long.

However, Martin Leaver, spokesman for South Bucks NHS Trust, explained that they are bringing in measures to combat such lengthy waiting times.

He said: "We are sorry Mr Brewster's experience fell short of his expectations and we would be happy to discuss this with him."

But he said: "When the department is busy we regret that patients with less serious injuries can face long waits."

However, he said the hospital is re-introducing a minor injuries unit to alleviate the problem.