One in six patients waited longer than four hours in A&E in England during October – the worst-ever performance since a target was introduced in 2004, according to data.
Just 83.6% of patients arriving at A&E were treated or admitted in four hours, figures from NHS England show.
The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “The Conservatives have ushered in the worst NHS crisis on record. Under Boris Johnson the NHS is in crisis and we’re heading for a winter of abject misery for patients.
“Our A&Es are overwhelmed, more so than ever. In every community there’s an ever-growing queue of people waiting for treatment. The Tories spent a decade cutting over 15,000 beds. Now they should apologise to every patient languishing on a trolley and waiting longer for treatment.”
Prof John Appleby, the chief economist at the Nuffield Trust thinktank, said: “These figures show the next government will immediately be faced with one of the bleakest winters in the NHS’s history.
“We have many months to go until seasonal pressures really hit the NHS, but October has already seen an unprecedented slump with performance against the main A&E target worse than ever.
“The health service is seeing far more patients, yet one in six is now waiting more than four hours in A&E. If the usual trends continue after Christmas, that would head towards one in five.”
He added that the number of people waiting on trolleys in corridors had already hit 80,000, “something we have only seen before in the very coldest part of the year”.
“If this trend keeps going, I fear we could see 100,000 people stuck on trolleys this coming January. As the election promises roll in, we should be under no illusion about the money, staff and time it will take to turn this situation around.”
