Jeremy Hunt has rejected claims the NHS is facing a “humanitarian crisis” and argued that that the UK spends more than average for a rich country on the health service – despite having one of the worst hospital bed shortages in Europe.

The UK has 273 free hospital beds per 100,000 people, the 24th lowest of 27 European countries, according to Eurostat.

More than a dozen hospitals have reported that 100 per cent of their beds are in use, with one hospital in Essex remaining without a single free bed in any general or intensive care ward for 27 days in December.

Two patients died on trolleys in A and E and 42 emergency departments were forced to divert ambulances to other hospitals last week, twice the frequency of the same period last year.

The Health Secretary told Radio 4’s Today programme pressures in the NHS was less about overall funding than about consistency of provision.

Jeremy Hunt says only 'one or two hospitals' are in trouble despite claims of a humanitarian crisis

He argued that the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called “very serious problems at some hospitals” by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A and Es when they should not.

Germany has three times as many free beds as the UK, with 823 available beds per 100,000 people, while France has 621 free beds for the same population.

Only Denmark, Ireland and Sweden have fewer available hospital beds than the UK, which lags behind the EU average of 521 free beds per 100,000 people.

Great Ormond Street Hospital's history Show all 10 1 /10 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history Great Ormond Street Hospital's history 'Treating rickets, 1920': This image of two children in protective eyewear in front of an ultraviolet screen was used in the 1930s to encourage donations to the hospital's redevelopment Great Ormond Street Hospital's history The Children’s Hospital School, which had opened with just one teacher, 1951 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history Staff and patients celebrate Christmas on Dresden Ward, which opened in 1893 after a large endowment from a London businessman Great Ormond Street Hospital's history 'Lady Folkestone cot, 1880s' shows a child in a bed with the name of the viscountess who sponsored her cot. The idea of cot sponsorship had begun just over a decade earlier, in 1868 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history Mrs Francis Willey, the hospital’s first matron, appointed two months before GOSH opened, 1851 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history The hospital’s nurses’ home, 1914 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history An operating theatre, circa 1930 Great Ormond Street Hospital's history Patients with lung conditions or infectious disease were wheeled on to the balcony for fresh air, 1920s. 'Images such as the balcony scene would have been used to show that the buildings were becoming antiquated and in need of replacement,' says Baldwin. 'The idea was to encourage people to donate towards maintenance, which was a constant concern.' Great Ormond Street Hospital's history The RAF Cranwell cot, funded from 1920 by a base in Lincolnshire Great Ormond Street Hospital's history GOSH acquired its first X-ray machine in 1903

More than 70 per cent of hospital beds are occupied by emergency admissions, according to the King’s Fund, while 80 per cent of patients who stay in hospital for over two weeks are over 65.

Theresa May said an ageing population “brings pressures, particularly in the interface between the health service and social care”.