by JENI CONNIBEER

Casualty waiting times reached crisis point at Barnet General Hospital on Monday

One woman who waited five hours for treatment, then left without being seen, said staff members were describing the centre as a ghetto

'There were people there who had been waiting 24 hours. The staff were really apologetic but there was nothing they could do,' said Sinead Radcliffe of Finchley.

'I left in the end because my injury wasn't that serious but I have been to A&E before and it has never been that bad.'

Casualty had 195 people reported to it on Monday, almost 50 more than usual, and 40 had required emergency admission by 5pm on Tuesday

A spokesman for Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust said: 'Demand for beds was so high that a day surgery unit ,, equipped with 10 beds ,, was opened to ease the pressure. 'Unfortunately because of the sheer numbers for some people there were more delays than usual.'

Alan Sloam, chairman of the Community Health Council, said: 'Winter pressures have been maintained for 12 months now. There are no peaks and troughs anymore, it's just constant pressure.

'The problem is not A&E, there just aren't enough beds. There are no observation beds hence you have trolley waits, it's dire. The planning is flawed, the hospital is too small. Two hospitals into one won't go.'

FACTBOX

the number of outpatients waiting for treatment last year was more than 50 per cent over target

the trust is currently £775,000 over budget ,, last year it made losses of £2.3million

this year the trust missed out on a cash performance bonus from the Government because of the numbers of people waiting on trolleys instead of beds

last month a Barnet Health Authority director wrote to GPs asking them not to refer patients to hospital unless it was absolutely necessary

Operations cancelled at Barnet General due to a lack of beds have increased by 138 per cent