The NHS is guilty of a “ridiculous waste of resources” - and could improve care without spending a penny more, its most senior doctor says.

Prof Keith Willett, medical director for acute care, urged staff to stop “fuming” when the system “grinds to a halt” and instead do more to prevent beds being blocked by patients who should have been discharged.

He said too many surgeons were left unable to operate - sometimes on a daily basis - because of a failure to tackle bedblocking, with beds filled by those unable to discharged for want of help at home.

Writing for The Telegraph, the senior surgeon said that too often, the system had stopped functioning even before the first patient arrives for surgery.

“To have highly skilled surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses sitting around waiting for patients is clearly a ridiculous waste of resources,” he writes.