Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, on the National Audit Office report on A&E admissions, said:

“This report is right to warn about the increasing numbers of elderly patients being admitted to England’s A&Es. We have long warned Ministers that severe cuts to council care services have left hospitals unable to discharge patients, and A&Es full to bursting.

“Sadly, it is patients who are paying the price. Elderly people are drifting towards hospital in such numbers that many have to wait hours on a trolley just to get a bed. And when they do get a bed, they end up being trapped there because of delays in arranging discharge.

“David Cameron’s toxic mix of cuts and reorganisation has left the NHS on the brink of its most dangerous winter crisis for a decade or more. It is further proof you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.”