A record number of A&E patients were so sick they had to be admitted to hospital last month, NHS England figures show today.
A total of 547,000 people who came to A&E had to be found a bed on a ward — 6.6 per cent up on last October.
It is the first definitive sign of the challenge the NHS faces this winter as it contends with an ageing population with multiple health problems.
Some 2.1 million patients attended emergency departments last month.
A total of 212 patients spent over 12 hours on a trolley awaiting a bed, compared with 57 last October.
Only 15 of 133 trusts hit the target of seeing, treating and discharging or transferring 95 per cent of people in four hours. In London, Homerton Hospital did best (96 per cent), King’s College worst (76).
