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The number of patients forced to wait over 12 hours in A&E has soared by more than 6,000% since 2010, shock figures reveal today.

A total of 38 people waited longer than 12 hours in casualty in 2010/11 when the Government first came to power.

But after years of NHS funding and staff cuts, the annual total rocketed to 2,604 in 2016/17 - a rise of 6,831%.

The British Medical Association, which published the figures in a report on NHS performance, said the crisis facing the NHS was to become an all-year-round problem.

The dossier also warned that hospitals in England “endured one of the worst winters on record”.

Bed occupancy, delayed transfers of care and waits at A&E were all found to be increasing.

And the analysis showed patients waiting longer for ambulances, treatment and admission, with a 6,831% rise in the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E over the past seven years.

Over the first three months of 2017, bed occupancy on general and acute wards was 91.4%, the highest figure recorded, the medical union said.

(Image: Getty)

Beds occupied by mental health patients were also shown to be at an all time high at the end of 2016, with 89.7% of beds filled.

And between the start of December 2016 and the middle of March 2017, the BMA noted that 94 of 152 trusts issued major alerts on at least one day to say they could not cope.

The “startling” findings follow a mild winter, with the average temperature in January only slightly under the historic average level, the BMA said.

Dr Mark Porter, BMA council chairman, said hospitals had “endured one of the worst winters on record”.

He said: “This new analysis is particularly stark because it wasn’t a bad winter in terms of external factors.

“The weather was mild and there were no widespread outbreaks of flu or norovirus.

“The pressure the NHS is under is purely down to bad political choices, with years of chronic under-funding and investment in services failing to keep up with patient demand.

“Politicians are consistently missing their own targets across the health system and the NHS is clearly at breaking point.

“Pressures previously only seen during the winter months are now becoming the norm year-round, as current trends suggest that performance will continue to deteriorate rather than improve.”

As the snap general election approaches, the BMA is calling for politicians “not to duck this crisis any longer” and agree on a long-term solution to protect the NHS.