GWENT health bosses have drawn up a six-month plan to try to reduce waiting times for patients at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital's accident and emergency department.

Ninety-five per cent of A&E attenders should be dealt with inside four hours - the period known as transit time - according to an Assembly executive target.

But during April to December last year, only 75 per cent of people coming to A&E at the Royal Gwent were seen within four hours, meaning one-in-four patients waited longer than the target time.

Though the percentage improved towards the end of 2004, staff have struggled to cope with increased numbers of emergency admissions during a busy winter.

The six-month plan involves not just improvements in A&E but development of the out-of-hours primary care system in Gwent to try to minimise hospital admissions. There are also plans to make more use of minor injuries departments at other Gwent hospitals, to extend the role of paramedics, and to speed up discharge from hospital. It is hoped these developments will bring the Royal Gwent's A&E department closer to achieving the four-hour target, probably towards the end of this year.

Plans are also being drawn up for a £700,000 re-modelling of the department.