Yvonne Wolstenholme spent 13 hours in A&E, after her GP sent her there because she was struggling to breathe.
“It was absolutely heaving,” she said.
“Staff are snowed under.
“They really are rushing around like headless chickens and it’s not because of a lack of skill, it’s the lack of time to see individual patients.
“While I was there, there were at least eight ambulance crews waiting to hand over patients – and obviously they are not out on the streets if they are there waiting.”
Official figures released on Thursday show:
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The average ambulance response time for immediately life-threatening category-one calls, such as cardiac arrests, was eight minutes 40 seconds in December – the target is seven
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For category-two calls, which include heart attacks and strokes, it was 47 minutes 26 seconds – the target is 18
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Just 71% of patients visiting A&E were seen and treated or admitted within the target time of four hours
For routine treatment, however, the hospital waiting list fell to 7.48 million at the end of November – down from 7.54 million the month before and below September 2023’s record high of 7.77 million.
Dr Tim Cooksley, of of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the NHS was experiencing an “appalling” winter crisis.
“The reality for patients and staff is corridors full of patients experiencing degrading care, being treated in the backs of ambulances because there is simply no space in hospital and the immense physical and emotional harm that inevitably results,” he said.
“The fundamental issue is that there is a continued lack of capacity throughout the year – a tough flu season must not be used as a political excuse for the current situation.”
