NHS A&E waits are five times worse than they were a decade ago, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics found 42 per cent of patients in England waited four hours or longer to be seen in September 2023.
The figure was eight per cent in January 2013.
Scotland and Wales saw the same trend but the effect was worst in England, the ONS said.
The analysis found December 2022 was the NHS’ worst month in the past 10 years.
Before Covid, NHS hospitals were targeted with seeing 95 per cent of patients within four hours but the current target is 76 per cent.
In January, three in ten patients waited more than four hours to be seen in A&E while 54,000 waited more than 12 hours for a bed.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine head Dr Adrian Boyle said: “This data sets out starkly how bad things have got over the last decade.
“Far too many people are having to stay too long and long stays are not just inconvenient or tedious, they are harmful, especially for older people.
“Our emergency care system exists to make people better but the current situation is actually making people sicker.”
