THE Department for Health has been slammed for an “appalling patient safety failure” after figures revealed more than 1.7 million patients waited for more than half a day for emergency care last year.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report published today estimates that 1.2 million patients in England waited between 12 and 24 hours from their arrival in A&E to be discharged, transferred or admitted, with some 500,000 more patients waiting for more than 24 hours.

NAO chief Gareth Davies said: “Despite significant efforts to improve A&E performance, patients continue to experience long waits and delays in care.

He urged NHS England and the Department to “understand more fully why improvements have been slow.”

Keep Our NHS Public co-chair Dr Tony O’Sullivan said: “These figures represent an appalling patient safety failure. A 24-hour wait in A&E should be an exceptional event, yet half a million patients endured one in a single year.

“Ministers should resist using these findings to suggest that investment in the NHS does not work.”

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the public accounts committee of MPs, said: “It is deeply concerning that that so many patients are still waiting far too long for emergency care, despite the NHS committing significant resources to address the problem.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “After years of rising demand and underinvestment, this report shows we inherited an NHS under huge pressure particularly in emergency care.

“But while there are encouraging signs of progress, including the best ambulance and A&E performance in four years last winter, we know too many patients are still waiting too long for urgent care.”