Accident and emergency statistics ignite political row

The government has come under harsh criticism following recent statistics suggesting that accident and emergency performance targets are being missed by the NHS.

Data for the last three months showed waiting times in England dropped to their worst levels for a decade, leading the Labour opposition to accuse prime minister David Cameron for causing this underperformance through its policies.

NHS England and the Department of Health have defended the recent performance of NHS hospitals, noting that during the last two weeks of December 2014 there were 849,800 emergency admissions, up by nearly 70,000 from 780,700 at the same time last year.

Of these, 761,700 patients were seen in under four hours, compared to 749,000 the year before, suggesting more people are being seen promptly even if the percentage has declined.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "We know the NHS is busier than ever before, which is why we've given the NHS a record 700 million pounds this winter for more doctors, nurses and beds."

However, opposition leader Ed Miliband said the recent weak NHS performance is the "direct result of the decisions" Mr Cameron has taken as prime minister.