AMBULANCES left waiting outside New-port's Royal Gwent Hospital are costing taxpayers £180,000 a year.

Crews were stuck outside the hospital for a total of 5,000 hours last year because of delays in transferring patients - the equivalent of one ambulance off the road for 12 hours per day for a year.

It takes an average of 40 minutes for an ambulance to transfer a patient from the care of ambulance trust staff to NHS trust staff at the Gwent - the new Assembly target as of April 1 this year is 15 minutes.

One of the reasons is the problem of ambulances being delayed because of bed-blocking - beds being taken up by patients fit enough to leave hospital care, but with nowhere to go.

Health chiefs say they are aware of the "failures in the system" - but the situation is unlikely to improve until the autumn.

The figures revealed at a special meeting between representatives from the Welsh Ambulance Trust, Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Monmouthshire council committee explain the lack of emergency ambulance cover in the area, revealed by the Argus last month.

Health Minister Jane Hutt announced £2.5 million funding for emergency ambulance services in 2003-2004. This more than doubles the £1 million provided last year.

But Don Page, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Trust, told the meeting the service needs a minimum investment of over £6 million to perform as it should.

Bill Caldwell, of Health Commission Wales Specialist Services, outlined the problem to councillors and revealed the figures.

He said: "There will never be enough money in the system to satisfy everyone in health, but there is more money than before."

And directorate manager of accident and emergency

at the Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust, Bronwen John, admitted: "We're well aware that we're perceived as the failures in the system and we're trying to rectify that."

She added a detailed action plan will be implemented by October.

It includes:l Working with the ambulance trust and the health authority to identify and resolve bottlenecks.

l Introducing a medical assessment unit where physicians examine incoming patients who don't require beds for treatment.

l An A and E scoring system to identify the amount of pressure the emergency department is under at any one time - scores will be sent to bed managers early.

Miss John also identified a number of other problem areas within the trust that need sorting, such as a lack of transport to take patients home at night, which often results in them staying overnight unnecessarily.

Chief officer at Gwent Community Health Council Colin Hobbs, also at the meeting, later told the Argus immediate action was needed: "The question left hanging in the air was, 'now we have the information, what are we going to do about it?'"