Shock figures show NHS has missed key targets since July 2015 as hospital boss warns they've 'run out of beds'

New NHS figures have revealed that only four of 137 hospital trusts were deemed to be safe for the first week of January, amid a growing ‘winter crisis’ within the health service.

The damning statistics came as it was revealed that a key target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours has not been met since July 2015 – with NHS bosses warning of massive bed shortages at hospitals across the UK.

Official figures showed that more than 5,000 people were forced to wait more than an hour to be seen in emergency departments in England in the first week of the year.

The statistics were released on Thursday, and comes as one NHS boss claimed the health service is reaching a ”watershed moment’.

NHS England has so far confirmed that more than 16,600 people had to wait more than half an hour in A&E departments as staff are faced with rising numbers of flu cases and respiratory illness.

Chris Hopson of NHS Providers has claimed that hospitals are rife with overcrowding and claims that the NHS is at a ‘watershed moment’, requiring long-term funding.

‘If we run the NHS at 100% capacity, day in day out, permanently in the red zone, it’s not surprising that the service can’t cope when we get a sudden, but entirely predictable, spike in demand’, Mr Hopson wrote in The Guardian.

The key problem is a lack of capacity: there are not enough beds or permanent staff. This is now a year-round problem affecting mental health, community and ambulance services, as well as hospitals. But in winter we have more patients who are sicker, requiring more care.

‘If bed occupancy rates are higher than 85% it becomes harder to ensure safe care, and there is less resilience to cope with spikes in demand. Most of the NHS was operating well above that 85% capacity level before winter had even started.’

Mr Hopson’s comments came as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last night insisted he’s willing to hold talks to ensure ‘significantly more funding’ for the cash-strapped health service.

Mr Hunt reiterated his desire for a 10-year plan for the NHS, adding a national consensus needs to be built.

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But he claimed Labour is not interested in being part of such discussions, which posed difficulties.

Hospitals chief Mr Hopson had called for the Government to commit to increasing the NHS budget to £153 billion by 2022/23.

‘Despite planning for winter more thoroughly and extensively than before, it hasn’t been sufficient. Rising numbers of flu cases and more respiratory illness have placed intolerable pressures on staff’, he said.

‘The NHS is no longer able to deliver the constitutional standards to which it is committed. We need to be realistic about what we can provide on the funding available.’

Mr Hopson’s claims come after Nine of the 10 ambulance services in England have declared the second-highest level of alert in response to the NHS winter crisis, indicating they are facing ‘severe pressure.’

Meanwhile, Theresa May has claimed that an increase in flu cases was partly to blame for long waits at hospitals.

The prime minister added: ‘We have put more funding into the NHS for these winter pressures. We’re putting more funding into the NHS overall.’