Dozens of hospitals are failing to declare critical incidents despite having out-of-control waiting times at A&E.
New figures handed to The Independent have revealed that more than half of NHS trusts have longer A&E waiting times than those which have already been forced to take emergency measures to deal with overwhelming demand. More than a dozen hospitals announced incidents at the start of January, but the health secretary later revealed the true figure was 24.
The Lib Dems accused the government of a “lack of urgency” to deal with the crisis hitting the NHS this winter and warned patients were being left “in the dark” on what is happening with their local services.