Thousands of English patients were stockpiled on hospital trolleys last week as the Tories guided the NHS to its worst ever crisis.

Figures released yesterday revealed more than 16,000 people were left in corridors for up to 12 hours in the country’s cash-strapped A&Es.

Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham seized on the latest evidence of unravelling hospital care to attack government “complacency” which “is exposing far too many vulnerable people to too much risk.