6,800pc rise in patients waiting 12 hours on trolleys in hospital A&ES

 The number of patients waiting 12 hours on trolleys has risen 6,800 per cent as hospital overcrowding reaches a record high, NHS figures show.

The Royal College of Surgeons said the situation had become “exceptionally worrying,” and the British Medical Association (BMA) urged the next government to draw up immediate plans to deal with the crisis.

Occupancy levels are now the highest on record – with 91.4 per cent of beds filled, against recommended rates of 85 per cent, the statistics show. More than 20 trusts regularly reached occupancy of at least 99 per cent during the period.

Clare Marx, president of the college, said that doctors were left “kicking their heels” and unable to operate as operations were increasingly being cancelled for want of beds.

A report by the BMA found 2,337 cases of patients waiting at least 12 hours in A&E departments last winter, compared with just 37 in 2010/11.

“These numbers are exceptionally worrying,” said Miss Marx. “We are running short of space in hospitals.”

Dr Mark Porter, council chairman at the BMA, said: “Our health and social care systems can no longer cope without urgent action.”