Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to today’s NHS England stats, said:

“These figures reveal the shocking scale of the crisis in our NHS this winter. Over 75,000 patients have been left languishing in the back of ambulances this winter, something the Government should be deeply ashamed of.

“Labour and clinicians have warned Ministers for months to prepare for this winter, but concerns were casually dismissed out of hand. Theresa May’s boast that the NHS is the best prepared it’s ever been has now been entirely discredited.

“The truth is we are now approaching the 8th year of desperate underfunding and cuts to our health and social care services by the Tories. We’ve seen thousands of beds cut from the NHS and the numbers of days lost to delayed discharge are up by 50% since 2010.

“The NHS is being pushed to the brink under Theresa May and it is patients suffering as a consequence.”