Record numbers waiting more than 12 hours in A&E in England as non-urgent waiting list figure falls slightly – live

Proportion of patients seen within four hours falls to record low of 65%; almost 7.2m people waiting for non-urgent hospital treatment

The NHS England figures also show that a record 264,391 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in November, the highest number in records going back to 2009, PA Media reports. PA says:

The proportion of cancer patients in England who saw a specialist within two weeks of being referred urgently by their GP increased from 77.8% in October to 78.8% in November but was still below the 93% target.

Some 61.0% of the record 16,296 cancer patients who had their first treatment in November after an urgent referral by their GP had waited less than than two months – up from 60.3% the previous month but below the 85% target.

Thousands of excess deaths, millions on waiting lists and hours until an ambulance arrives, this is a horror show of the government’s creation. People will be petrified when they or their loved ones fall ill.

Our NHS isn’t just at breaking point - it’s splitting at its very seams. Liberal Democrats are demanding the government release the money they promised to help discharge patients from hospitals, in the next seven days.