Health Service Journal (HSJ) statistics showed Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust had recorded 52 waits of 12 hours since January.

BBC: Brighton and Sussex NHS 'worst for A&E 12-hour waits'

"We are not just chopping off the tail of the waiting list, we are hitting the targets, " he told the magazine Health Service Journal.

BBC: Bid to clear NHS heart op waits

In a sign of the difficulties that lie ahead for the government, the British Medical Association responded angrily to a draft policy of the health department's workforce strategy for the three years to 2010-11, details of which were published in the Health Service Journal on January 4th.

ECONOMIST: Will Labour back-pedal on health-care reform in 2007?