The main hospital serving Wanstead and Woodford failed to meet A&E waiting times targets in December, in one of the NHS’ busiest winters on record.

Whipps Cross Hospital, in Leytonstone, admitted, discharged or assessed 77 per cent of its emergency patients within the four hour time limit, 18pc below the national guideline.

A spokeswoman for Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Whipps Cross, explained the hospital was “treating a record number of people in A&E”.

She said: “The number of patients seen last December was 6pc more than the previous year, and we ensured that an additional 406 people were treated within the four hour national standard.

“Our staff are pulling out all the stops to keep patients safe implementing new ways to more efficiently assess and treat people including using ambulatory care pathways and GP emergency assessment referrals to help patients to see senior clinicians more quickly.”

The news comes as a leaked report showed that not one hospital trust in London hit the 95pc target of patients being seen within four hours last month.

The data revealed by the BBC claimed just 86 per cent of A&E patients were seen within four hours – the worst record since the target was introduced 13 years ago

A spokesman for the Department for Health rubbished the leaked report. He said: “We do not recognise these figures — it is irresponsible to publish unverified data and does a disservice to all NHS staff working tirelessly to provide care around the clock.”

Official figures for January will be published next month.