Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson ‘very angry’ small boat arrivals numbers may have passed 100,000 – as it happened

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The Royal College of Nursing says today's hospital waiting list figures for England (see 9.44am) show the NHS is falling into deeper crisis". In a statement Nicola Ranger, the RCN's chief nursing officer, said:

With a record number of patients now on a waiting list in England, the NHS is falling into deeper crisis.

A decade of underinvestment in the NHS has led to dire consequences for patients and pushed many nursing staff out of the profession they love and with unrelenting pressure on those who remain.

Some 74% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up from 73.3% in June, PA says. The figure hit a record low of 65.2% in December. The NHS recovery plan sets a target of March 2024 for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted was 23,934 in July, down 10% from 26,531 in June, PA says. The figure hit a record 54,573 in December 2022.

The average response time in July for ambulances in England dealing with the most urgent incidents, defined as calls from people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, was eight minutes and 21 seconds, NHS figures show. This is down from eight minutes and 41 seconds in June but is above the target standard response time of seven minutes, PA says.

Ambulances took an average of 31 minutes and 50 seconds last month to respond to emergency calls such as heart attacks, strokes and sepsis, PA says. This is down from 36 minutes and 49 seconds in June, while the target is 18 minutes.

Response times for urgent calls, such as late stages of labour, non-severe burns and diabetes, averaged one hour, 50 minutes and nine seconds in July, down from two hours, five minutes and 40 seconds in June, PA says.