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Almost half of people in England believe the NHS has got worse since the Tories came to power, an extensive new survey has found.

The majority of people polled would be happy to pay a penny more in income tax if it went straight to the NHS.

And 75% said they agreed or strongly agreed that NHS workers’ pay should be increased in line with inflation.

It comes as Theresa May and Health secretary Jeremy Hunt were both forced to apologise to patients on Wednesday, as thousands of operations were cancelled to ease pressure from the winter crisis.

Has the NHS got better or worse since 2010? Google Consumer Survey

Just 17.7% of people thought the health service had improved in the seven years since the Tories took office, according to research carried out by the Google Consumer Surveys network - with 47.2% saying it had got worse.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: “The British public know you simply can’t trust the Tories with the NHS. The truth is the Tories are running our NHS down, cutting it back and privatising it off.

"We’ve lost thousands of beds, we’re thousands short of the nurses, doctors and midwifes we need, and the elderly are left without the care support they deserve. Labour created the NHS and on it’s 70 birthday we’ll fight alongside the British people to defend it”

The poll also found less than a quarter of people trust the Tories to run the NHS.

Labour was the most trusted on health with 35.5% - but almost as many people (34.5%) said they didn’t trust any political party with the job.

Which party do you trust most with the NHS? Google Consumer Survey

Just 18.2% said they trusted the Conservative Party most with the NHS.

On Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt was forced to apologise after cancellations for non-urgent treatments were extended by two weeks to the end of January.

It came after hospitals reported they were struggling to cope with the surge in patients since Christmas.

He said: “I want to apologise for the fact that we’ve had to, regrettably, postpone a number of operations.”

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But he said the move was needed to deal with the pressures put on hospitals.

He added: “This is the busiest week of the year for the NHS."

The extensive new poll asked 3,000 people in England for their views on the health service.

The poll found people in England would overwhelmingly be happy to pay an extra penny in the pound in tax if it went directly to the NHS.

Asked to rate their support for the idea on a scale of 1-10, almost a third of respondents gave the maximum score, with two thirds responding positively overall.

The Liberal Democrats , who have long called for a ringfenced increase in income tax to fund the NHS, welcomed the poll.

Health spokeswoman Dame Judith Jolly said: “The pressure on the NHS is completely unsustainable, with thousands of patients being let down through cancelled operations.

“People are increasingly angry at the Conservatives’ refusal to properly fund our NHS.

“There is now growing public support for our call to put a penny on income tax to raise an extra £6bn a year for the NHS and care. The Lib Dems are the only party being honest with people that to rescue the NHS, we all need to chip in a little more.”