A monthly data released on Thursday shows the National Health Service in England performed its worst in the first month of this year forcing thousands of patients in critical units to wait longer than usual.
According to the report, the NHS struggled to cope with demands for A&E care, hospital beds and emergency ambulances partly because of the traditional winter rush.
A total of 212,136 patients waited more than the maximum four hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E units.
Similarly, more than 26,000 patients including those suffering from hernia and cataract waited more than the supposed maximum of 18 weeks to have planned care in hospital.
Record numbers of cancer patients were also not seen within NHS-wide time limits, with hospitals breaching two of the eight waiting time targets covering the disease.
‘Junior doctors adamant’
The latest report on the NHS failure comes amid a 48-hour strike launched on Wednesday by thousands…