Thousands of patients are having to wait in ambulances before being admitted to A&E departments due a shortage of beds and staff.
Figures reveal that in 2013-14 almost 300,000 ambulances were delayed for more than 30 minutes at A&E departments.
Over 30,000 patients were forced to wait for over an hour, while one patient in the West Midlands remained in an ambulance for eight hours before being admitted.
The data was obtained by the Labour party after a freedom of information was submitted to all 10 ambulance trusts in England.
According to NHS guidelines, a patient should wait no longer than 15 minutes in an ambulance upon arriving at A&E.
Jamie Reed, the shadow health minister, said: “Hospitals are full to bursting…Thousands of vulnerable people, many of them elderly and frightened, are being wrongly held in the back of ambulances because hospitals don’t have the space.”
The Department of Health said: “We’re already making good progress in reducing the number of patients waiting for 30 minutes of longer – down by almost a third last winter.
“We are providing extra support, including £28m for ambulances from funds already given to the NHS this year, to keep services sustainable year-round. In the long term, we want to reduce demand by looking after people better in the community.”
Unacceptable delays
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