Worst month ever for emergency unit waits
More than 100,000 accident and emergency patients waited more than four hours to be treated in hospitals last month, new figures show.
100,578 patients waited more than four hours with 2,846 of them waiting more than 12 hours after a decision to admit them was made to a bed being found, according to performance statistics released by NHS England.
For both delays, this is the highest number of so-called trolley waits since records began.
It is an increase of 20.4% and 353.9% respectively from the same month a year ago, when there were 83,554 four-hour waits and just 627 12-hour waits.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said the figures show the strain on the NHS is "relentless, deepening and showing no sign of recovery".
BMA council chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: "The Government is simply failing to get a grip on winter pressures.
"Stories of patient deaths on corridors, rammed emergency departments and cancellations of procedures are becoming the new norm as doctors say they are exhausted and run into the ground.
"This is an unacceptable situation for a civilised health service; it is failing patients and is not sustainable."
An NHS spokeswoman said January had seen improved A&E performance and faster ambulance response times compared with December.
Dr Nick Scriven, past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: "The fact the NHS is teetering on the brink is now such common knowledge that it is no longer a shock to see continuous failure to meet performance targets.”