LONDON: Labour will demand that the government releases extra cash to tackle the “appalling winter crisis” in the NHS after thousands of routine operations were postponed to ease pressure on hospitals.

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth will force a vote in the Commons, ordering ministers to increase cash limits for the current year so the NHS can reschedule scores of cancelled procedures.

Both Theresa May and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt were forced to apologise when hospitals were told to defer around 55,000 routine operations and potentially millions of outpatient appointments to free up capacity for the sickest patients.

In a sign of the intense strain on the NHS, official figures also showed 17,000 patients were stuck in the back of ambulances outside A&E for more than half an hour over Christmas while 91.7 per cent of hospital beds were full across England.

Labour has tabled a parliamentary motion condemning the government’s “failure to allocate adequate resources” to the NHS and accusing ministers of cuts to bed numbers and social care funding, as well as the privatisation of community health care provision.

Ashworth, who will lead the Opposition Day debate, said: “Patients and staff have once again been let down this winter by a government in disarray, failing to sufficiently prepare for the predictable spike in demand as the cold snap hits.

“Thousands of patients are now bearing the brunt for this appalling winter crisis, with elective operations being deferred until the end of January for the first time ever.