Hospital patients are having vital appointments cancelled more than 10 times in a row, amid growing chaos across the NHS.

A Daily Telegraph investigation reveals soaring numbers of patients - many elderly - are suffering repeated cancellations, with notice only given in some cases the night before via letters dispatched by taxi.

In other cases, patients have been left waiting years to see a hospital doctor after their NHS slot was axed again and again.

Five patients who experienced more than 10 cancellations in a row had been left waiting for care since at least 2014, the figures show.

The disclosures reveal that across the country, the number of people who suffered at least five cancellations in a row has more than tripled in three years.

The figures cover patients sent by their GP to see a hospital specialist, as well as those due to have follow-up checks, or those referred on to other hospital departments for further investigations or treatment.

Thinktanks said the dramatic trends were “worrying,” while patients groups said the failings undermined public confidence in the NHS, with those subjected to repeated “bungles” left with nowhere to turn.

Last year, 13,540 patients suffered such a plight, compared with 3,961 cases in 2016, the records show. They included 185 patients who had seen the same appointment cancelled at least 10 times - almost three times more than in 2016, when 67 cases were recorded.