A&E delays the worst they've ever been, new figures show

The poor figures are likley to cause further concern about the prospect of a total strike by junior doctors

Officials insist that no one requiring urgent medical attention will be turned away (Getty)

The proportion of patients seen on time in A&E has slumped to the lowest level since records began.

Just 87.8 per cent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E departments in England within four hours of arrival in February, considerably lower than the 95 per cent target.

Figures have also revealed that a number of key health targets including ambulances arriving at serious incidents, cancer referral rates and ‘bed-blocking’ have not been met.

So-called ‘bed-blocking’ occurs when patients are medically fit enough to be released but remain in hospital beds, often because they lack appropriate social care support in the community. Records show such instances increased from 134,353 in February 2015 to 157,569 in February of this year.

A core cancer treatment target failed to be met as 81 per cent of people were referred to their GP for treatment within 62 days, compared to the 85 per cent target.

Ambulances missed their target to attend to 75 per cent of the most serious 999 calls in eight minutes. This is the ninth month in a row that this target has not been met.

In response to the figures, Candace Imison, director of policy at the Nuffield Trust, said: “Today's figures are the very visible symptoms of a system facing both inexorably increasing patient numbers and severe financial strain.

"It's disappointing that for the second month in a row, the proportion of people seen within four hours in A&E in February was the lowest since 2004, with almost 230,000 people having to wait longer than four hours."

Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “These figures show an NHS on its knees and in crisis.

”Under David Cameron we're heading back to the bad old days of patients waiting hours on end in overcrowded A&E departments or stuck on trolleys because no beds are available.

“The pressures in hospitals are a direct consequence of decisions this Tory Government has taken. Cuts to social care have left too many older people without the support they need to remain independent at home, and it has got harder and harder to see a GP - leaving many people with no choice but to go to A&E.”

With additional reporting by PA