Labour calls on Theresa May to sanction immediate £500million boost for the NHS as emergency departments warned wards could ‘grind to a halt’ this winter

LABOUR called on Theresa May to sanction an immediate £500 million boost for the NHS after emergency departments warned wards could “grind to a halt” this winter.

Jon Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, blasted the PM for sticking her "head in the sand" and refusing to give the NHS what it needed last year.

He will tell a Labour conference staff have been "pushed beyond their limits causing misery for patients in every part of the country".

Labour analysis claims 10,000 people could wait more than 4 hours for A&E every day, with hundreds of operations cancelled and waiting lists growing if nothing is done.

It follows reports the number of patients languishing in A&Es for more than 12 hours has risen more than 10,000 per cent in only five years.

Back in January to March 2012, just 15 patients had to wait more than half a day in casualty in England before being admitted to a ward.

But that soared to 1,597 for the same three months in 2017, according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health insisted last night plans in place for winter were "robust".

She said: "The NHS planned for winter earlier this year than ever before and has robust plans in place, supported by an extra £100m for A&E departments and £2bn funding for the social care system to help improve discharging and free up beds in hospitals.

"Since 2010, hardworking NHS staff are treating 1,800 more patients within four hours each day and are seeing 2.8 million more people each year.”