The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E has soared to a record high.
The latest NHS England data shows the figure shot up from 50,775 in December to 71,517 in January. This is a 40 per cent jump and the highest number since monthly records began in August 2010.
The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission stood at 161,141 last month, up from 137,763 in December and the second highest figure on record.
The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for 78 per cent of patients attending A&E to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.
Some 72.5 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 73.8 per cent in December.
One in four people (137,763) in December waited for more than four hours between admission and staff finding them a bed, while one in 10 (50,775) waited more than 12 hours. That’s almost 50,000 more patients than the NHS target.
A damning review into NHS corridor care revealed a person died while waiting on a trolley in a hospital corridor and diabetic patients were left for hours without food.
Other sick patients were left on broken beds in pitch-black corridors for 24 hours with no privacy, according to a review of patient care in emergency departments in December by the group Healthwatch England.
Many patients told Healthwatch that the lack of privacy while waiting or being treated in corridors led them to feel as though they had been stripped of their dignity, especially patients who had issues going to the toilet.
NHS England has been contacted by the Independent for a comment.
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