PATIENTS should expect “inevitable” greater waits in A&E departments, two health charities warned yesterday.

The Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation said that there is a “perfect storm” of factors which are leading to an increase in waiting times in emergency departments across England.

The comments come after the latest figures from NHS England show that major A&E departments failed to treat and discharge or admit 95 per cent of patients within four hours for 52 weeks running.

From analysing 41 million A&E attendances from 2010 to 2013 the charities highlighted a number of contributing factors which could lead to longer waits.

Winter pressures are associated with higher rates of people waiting for more than four hours, their report states.

They also found that the number of people in emergency departments has risen as the population has grown and aged.

The report suggests that older people are waiting longer than young adults or children. People over the age of 75 spend an average of three and a half hours in A&E compared to two and a half hours for younger patients.

Patients with long-term conditions are also likely to wait longer to be admitted or discharged — and people with more than one of these conditions are forced to wait even longer.

Labour health spokesman Jamie Reed said: “This report is proof that David Cameron’s fingerprints are all over the crisis in A&E departments. Patients will be worried to hear things are set to get even worse.”