The survey looked at A&E services

They were waiting to be transferred to a bed.

The Department of Health has said no patients should wait longer than 12 hours.

Just over half the 95,000 patients surveyed by the department in late 2001 were admitted after being seen in emergency.

Two million people are admitted to hospital after being seen in A&E each year.

Very long waits of over 12 hours following a decision to admit are now reduced to a handful of hospitals Department of Health spokeswoman

The Liberal Democrats, who raised questions about the survey in parliament, say that would suggest 120,000 people wait more than 12 hours in A&E.

A third of A&E patients said they had to wait less than an hour to be admitted to a ward, a room or a bed.

The survey found 28% had to wait between one and four hours, 19% four to eight hours and 9% eight to 12 hours.

Cleanliness

The majority of those admitted to hospital after being on a waiting list felt they had been taken into hospital as soon as it was necessary.

But 12% said they felt they should have been admitted "a lot sooner".

A quarter said they spent time on a mixed-sex ward. The government has pledge to eradicate the wards in 95% of hospitals.

And most people said they were not always given enough privacy when they were discussing their treatment or when they were being examined.

Over half of those questioned said their ward was very clean, and 50% said the bathrooms and toilets were also clean.

Data 'withheld'

The information was published on the Department of Health's website on the day the latest NHS league tables were released.

But a Department of Health spokeswoman told BBC News Online: "This is not a cover up.

"This inpatient information has been available to acute trusts since July 2002 just not in a national, aggregated format.

"It was always designed to be used to help the development of local services.

She added: "Waits over 12 hours are not acceptable.

"Very long waits of over 12 hours following a decision to admit are now reduced to a handful of hospitals with endemic problems.

"But across the board, we have thousands more nurses and doctors, and for the first time in decades, more hospital beds."

'Staggering'

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris told BBC News Online: "If they withhold publication of adverse data then they can't claim it's out-of-date data.

"Despite government claims, there are still many patients suffering unnecessarily."

Shadow Health Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "These statistics are staggering, even for an audience accustomed to the worsening situation in many parts of the NHS.

"At last we have statistics that we can take seriously because they reflect what patients think, not what the government wants us to think.