A hospital “on Theresa May’s doorstep” called in the services of first aiders from St John Ambulance to free up staff time by helping in its emergency department.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, which is just 2.5 miles from the village of Sonning where the Prime Minister has her constituency home, told The Independent the volunteers were not used for clinical care.

Instead the first aiders were restocking supplies, like gloves and aprons, keeping patients company, and making hot drinks, under the supervision of NHS staff on Tuesday.

“All of these things enabled our clinical staff to focus their time on providing patient care,” the trust told The Independent.

The Royal Berkshire was the only English trust identified as having made use of St John Ambulance volunteers, so far, when asked by The Independent.

However, virtually all hospitals have banks of local volunteers who are on hand to help with transport, interacting with patients, and other roles.

Volunteer numbers are set to double under an NHS-backed scheme, and Labour said their commitment to the NHS must not become a long-term solution to Tory austerity.

The trust did not comment on why it had used St John Ambulance volunteers in this case and Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders said their being drafted in on the PM’s doorstep was “shocking”.

This comes in a week when the NHS told trusts they should cancel tens of thousands of elective operations, and many more appointments, to protect urgent care services.

County Antrim Hospital, Northern Ireland, was forced to draft in St John volunteers to help on its emergency wards because of “extreme pressures”.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Show all 6 1 /6 Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves The elderly “We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population,” Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs Jeremy Hunt has called for a “honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments”, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme 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&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunt’s plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Simon Stevens, head of NHS England Reports that “key members” of Ms May’s team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Previous health policy, not funding In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been “ducked by government over the years”. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a “humanitarian crisis” and said health funding was at record levels. “We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need,” said the Prime Minister. “They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required… Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” But doctors accused Ms May of being “in denial” about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise – introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2000 – should only be for “those who actually need it”. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had “less stringent” rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves No one Mr Hunt was accused of “hiding” from the public eye following news of the Red Cross’s comments and didn’t make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying “the public will want to know, Mr Hunt”. “Sorry Beth, I’ve answered questions about this already,” replied Mr Hunt. “But you didn’t answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didn’t want to water it down. Is that what you’re saying?” said Ms Rigby. “It’s very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then won’t answer the question, Mr Hunt”. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in. Getty

Meanwhile, in Scotland, head office staff were used to help with ward cleaning amid soaring A&E pressures.

Staff in County Antrim complained about the use of the first aiders, who they said are trained in pre-hospital care and were therefore inappropriate for use on a hospital ward.

Today the Prime Minister toured another NHS hospital, Frimley Park in Surrey, and apologised to thousands of patients facing delays to their operations because of the cancellations.

However, she repeated her message that the NHS was “better prepared for this winter than ever before”, after receiving a last minute injection of funding in the Autumn Budget.

A spokesperson for St John Ambulance told The Independent its volunteers had provided low-level support, saying: “In response to and working closely with the Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust, we were able to deploy a number of trained first aiders from our active network of volunteers.

“This demonstrates how vital our work can be in our local communities, actively increasing community resilience and alleviating pressure on the NHS in times of need.”

A spokesperson for Royal Berkshire said: “The six volunteers from St John Ambulance helped in our Emergency Department for a period of five hours, and under supervision of members of staff carried out a number of activities, such as stocking up the gloves and aprons, talking with patients – particularly those who came in alone – making drinks, and helping patients and relatives by letting them know about facilities in the hospital.

“They did not provide clinical care – they were in the hospital providing non-clinical support, alongside our usual cohort of regular volunteers.

Justin Madders said: “That a hospital on Theresa May’s own doorstep had to rely on St John Ambulance to help deliver safe patient care is a shocking indication of this appalling winter crisis.

“It is fantastic that volunteers care so deeply about the health service but they must not be deployed as a solution to Tory austerity, which has left our NHS severely underfunded and understaffed.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Charities and social enterprises such as British Red Cross, Age UK and St John Ambulance and many others have been doing amazing voluntary work in the NHS since its creation – so this is nothing new.”