Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on the rise in patients waiting up to 12 hours on A&E trolleys, said:

“These figures show that the crisis in our A&E departments is worsening by the week.

"Far too many patients are being forced to wait on trolleys in overcrowded A&E departments. These scenes are reminiscent of the 80s and 90s when patients waited hours on end for a bed, often in pain and discomfort.

"The uncomfortable truth for the Government is that patients are suffering the direct consequence of Ministers’ mismanagement of the NHS. The cuts to older people’s care we have seen under David Cameron has created unprecedented demand on hospitals, and many are now struggling to provide safe care.

"Ministers need to urgently get their heads out of the sand and get a grip on the crisis facing the NHS this winter.”