Four out of 10 nurses believe their colleagues are fiddling figures to meet Government waiting times targets, a poll suggests.

The survey of 1,000 nurses found one in 10 working in hospitals have been personally asked to take part in "gaming" to meet deadlines, such as the four-hour target for A&E.

A report out last week from the NHS Information Centre found A&E patients across England are being admitted to hospital in order to meet this deadline.

Data showed 66% of people are admitted to a ward in the 10 minutes before the four hours is up, compared with 21% overall.

Four out of 10 nurses believe colleagues are fiddling figures to meet targets Full Image

The latest survey, from the Nursing Times, found examples of discharge times being changed to give the appearance patients are being treated within the target.

One nurse said: "I have witnessed other colleagues altering times of patient leaving A&E department so they do not breach, but I will not take part in this myself."

Other examples include patients being temporarily moved from A&E to observation areas, corridors and in one case a theatre recovery ward.

Some patients have also been admitted to mixed-sex bays or sent to specialist wards without first being seen by a doctor.

Around three out of four nurses questioned said their part of the NHS was under greater pressure than this time last year, with staff shortages and high bed occupancy rates partly to blame. Six out of 10 hospital nurses said this pressure was greater than had been planned for.

More than one in 10 nurses said bed occupancy rates were "unsustainable" and many feared that the impact of swine and seasonal flu could make things worse.