HEALTH campaigners condemned the latest “horrifying” spike in A&E wait times today.

In January, 54,308 people had to wait more than 12 hours from the time of the decision to admit them to an accident and emergency department to when it took effect, rising sharply from 44,045 in December.

The figures also revealed worsening waits for routine hospital treatment, with 13,164 having waited more than 18 months for their treatment to start at the end of December, up from 11,168 in November.