There have already been a "shocking" 1,835 waits of 12 hours or more in Harrogate Districts A&E so far this year, Harrogate MP Tom Gordon says.

Blaming what he describes as the "appalling legacy left by the Conservative Government", the Lib Dem MP is now calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to "winterproof” local health services in next week's Budget.

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “It’s terrifying to think that my constituents are regularly having to suffer potentially dangerously long delays.

“The appalling legacy that the Conservative Party has left our NHS cannot be overstated.

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “The appalling legacy that the Conservative Party has left our NHS cannot be overstated." (Picture contributed)

placeholder image — Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “The appalling legacy that the Conservative Party has left our NHS cannot be overstated." (Picture contributed)

"They set our health service up for winter crisis after winter crisis, with patients left strewn across hospital corridors, unable to get a bed due to their neglect.”

The new figures, which are the result of research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, reveals that 4.3% of all attendances at A&Es in Harrogate District involve a patient waiting 12 hours or longer.

The research has also shown a rise in the number of 12-hour A&E waits so far this year.

Between February and September compared with the same period last year there was a rise in the number of people waiting 12 hours or longer in Harrogate District’s A&Es of 960, up to 1,475 from 515 the previous year.

Mr Gordon pointed to research by The Royal College of Emergency Medicine which previously estimated that long A&E delays led to around 14,000 excess deaths last year, or 268 a week.

The Lib Dems nationally are calling on the Chancellor to launch a new fund at the Budget to put an end to the annual winter crises in the health service.

The £1.5 billion ring-fenced fund would be allocated over the next four years, to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.

Mr Gordon said: “It is down to the new Government to rise to the challenge and protect people here in Harrogate and Knaresborough from the potentially grave consequences of yet another winter crisis.

"That must start at the Budget.”