CANCER waiting times and MRSA were revealed as below target for the Royal Surrey County Hospital this week. The figures, released by Surrey PCT, show the hospital had three cases of superbug MRSA for November 2006 - its target was one. The strategic health authority has now met hospital officials to discuss solving the problem, which has been countywide, as the PCT attempts to slash cases by 60 per cent by March 2008. Actions to cut the Royal Surrey's MRSA rate include screening all patients with an indwelling catheter in the community - including those in residential and nursing homes - and a new discharge policy for MRSA-positive patients. The maximum wait of 62 days for cancer patients has also been missed by the hospital, which has a good history of treating the illness. October and November saw it fall short of the 95 per cent target, getting 94.3 per cent and 94 per cent respectively. However, Surrey PCT claims the hospital has an action plan in place to hit the targets, which it had done consistently before October. Also below target was giving thrombolysis to patients who have suffered a heart attack. The target of 60 minute call-to-needle time is 68 per cent, but the Royal Surrey managed 55.6 per cent in the second quarter and 33.3 per cent in the third quarter. And although Surrey PCT is hitting ambulance callout targets, the area that used to be covered by Guildford and Waverley PCT is still falling short when it comes to getting victims of serious accidents to hospital in eight minutes. The issue was also raised at the PCT's meeting last year, when South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt questioned the sense in closing the Royal Surrey and sending people elsewhere when ambulances were already struggling to reach the nearest hospital in time. However, the results did show the hospital deals with accident and emergency calls within four hours consistently well, with almost 100 per cent of patients receiving treatment in the target time.