Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have clashed over the NHS, with the Prime Minister urged to save the health service “from death by a thousand cuts”.

In an exchange dominated by the NHS, the Labour leader also alluded to reports that Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, had demanded an extra £5bn for the NHS at a meeting of the Cabinet earlier this week.

Mr Corbyn said the Prime Minister should “face up to the reality” of the problems in the health service, but Ms May shot back: “There is only one part of the NHS that has seen a cut in its funding – it’s the NHS in Wales under a Labour government.

“This is a Government that is backing the NHS plan, that is putting more money into the NHS, that is recruiting more doctors and nurses, that is seeing new treatments come on board which ensure people are getting the best treatment,” she added.

The Labour leader also used the weekly session to cite concerning reports in the NHS in recent weeks. “It’s been reported that a man froze to death waiting 16 hours for an ambulance,” he told MPs gathered in the Commons.

He added: “Last week a young gentleman called Chris wrote to me saying ‘my friend’s 93-year-old father waiting four hours for an ambulance after a fall’.”

Mr Corbyn said the NHS is being “starved of resources” and people are “dying unnecessarily in the back of ambulances and in hospital corridors”.