'This is about life and death': BBC's Andrew Marr lashes Theresa May over NHS winter crisis as he tells her if he suffered his stroke this year he could have died because of A&E delays

Marr confronted the Prime Minister over a winter crisis in the health service 

He highlighted a stroke patient who had to wait five hours for treatment 

BBC presenter said if he had waited five hours in 2013 he could have died  

The BBC's Andrew Marr lashed Theresa May over the NHS winter crisis today, suggesting if he had stroke this year he might have died.

Marr said delays to emergency treatment were a 'life and death matter' and recalled his own illness in January 2013 in an interview with the Prime Minister.

He told Mrs May about a woman called Leah Butler Smith whose mother waited five hours for stroke treatment in recent weeks because of delays in an Accident and Emergency department in Essex.  

Marr said if he had been forced to wait for five hours for treatment he might never have survived the devastating stroke he suffered while on a rowing machine. 

In her first interview of the year, which was pre-recorded in Maidenhead yesterday, Mrs May insisted she understood the concerns and said the Government was working to tackle the problems - but admitted 'nothing is perfect'. 

The BBC's Andrew Marr lashed Theresa May over the NHS winter crisis today, suggesting if he had stroke this year he might have died

During the interview, Marr told Mrs May about a woman called Leah Butler Smith whose mother waited five hours for stroke treatment in recent weeks because of delays in an Accident and Emergency department in Essex

Mrs May (pictured in Maidenhead this morning with husband Philip) said the Government was working to tackle the problems in the health service with more money and detailed plans 

Mrs May replied: 'Well obviously you've raised an individual case with me which I haven't seen the details of and I – I recognise that people have concerns if they have experience of that sort.

Marr returned to work eight months after his January 2013 stroke (pictured) but was left permanently disabled and using a cane to help him walk 

'If we look at what is happening across the NHS what we see is that actually the NHS is delivering for more people, it is treating more people and more people are being seen within the four hours every day than has been in the – a few years ago.

'But of course nothing's perfect and there is more for us to do.' 

Mrs May insisted the Government had put more money into the NHS ahead of this winter.

And she said there had been extensive planning, part of which involved the cancellation of planned operations this week to free up capacity.

Both Mrs May and her health secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised for the cancellations this week and she said today: 'I was apologising for the fact that of course as we've seen some operations have been postponed and some people have been delayed in being admitted to – to hospital.

'Now, if you look across the NHS, experience is different. Experience is different from hospital to hospital as to what is – what is happening. There are some hospitals where very few operations have been cancelled.' 

In her first interview of the year, which was pre-recorded in Maidenhead yesterday (pictured), Mrs May insisted she understood the concerns

Mrs May visited Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley, this week to see first hand the pressure on the NHS (pictured) 

Marr told the Prime Minister extra money put into the NHS was 'not nearly enough' and the health service was under going the 'tightest funding squeeze in its history'. 

She replied: 'Well year in and year out we look at the funding for the National Health Service and what we've done is consistently where we felt it did need more funding we have put more funding into it.

'We've put some – we put some extra money in for the coping with the winter pressures.' 

She added: 'We should be proud of the fact that our NHS has been named as the safest and best health care system in the world. Is there more we can do? Yes, of course there is and that's what the government will be doing.'

Speaking on the same programme, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said of the PM: 'She hasn't got a plan to get those people off the trolleys and corridors.'

He added: 'Her only plan apparently is to promote this Health Secretary. They should be demoting this Health Secretary.

'If she promotes this Health Secretary tomorrow it's a betrayal of those 75,000 people in the back of ambulances.'

PATIENTS FORCED OFF STRETCHERS TO BE TREATED IN CHAIRS  

Seriously ill patients arriving by ambulance at besieged casualty units are being forced off stretchers and treated on chairs – to get paramedics back on the road.

Under a desperate new move to deal with the winter crisis gripping the NHS, sick and injured patients are assessed by hospital staff to see if they are 'fit to sit'.

Managers hope the scheme will reduce lengthy delays that have seen up to 25 ambulances queuing at hospitals with patients on board.

George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire wrote in its 'winter plan action matrix' that 'fit to sit' would 'improve ambulance handover delays' and late last year it 'ordered appropriate seating' that met infection control requirements.

In the new action plan, trusts were told they 'must avoid the use of ambulance trolleys for patients who are 'fit to sit', and should move them to a chair if appropriate. 

PENSIONER REVEALS 14-HOUR WAIT FOR A&E TREATMENTA pensioner has told how he was forced to wait for a bed for 14 hours in A&E in a stark illustration of the winter crisis gripping the NHS.

Raymond Horner, from Bishop Auckland, said he was 'shouting in pure agony' in the A&E department at Darlington Memorial Hospital, as staff struggled to cope with the number of patients and the lack of available beds.

The family of the 84-year-old said the department was 'horrendously busy' when they visited just before the New Year, and said patients were having to sit on the floor as they waited to be seen by medical staff.

They also criticised the lack of A&E services at Bishop Auckland Hospital, which they live just a mile away from.

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust apologised for the delays patients have faced, while Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman described Mr Horner's experience as 'very distressing'. 

Mr Horner, who used to work as a postman, had previously spent a month in hospital after being diagnosed with urosepsis, but returned home before the New Year.

However, he had to return to A&E last Friday DEC 29 at 7pm to have a blocked catheter changed, and had to wait three hours before he could be seen.

Shirley Horner, his sister-in-law, said: 'He was in agony - he was shouting and crying and saying he wanted to die.

'We didn't know what to do to help him - the staff at the hospital were brilliant but they were so overstretched.'

After returning home, Mr Horner had to return to the A&E department at midnight after developing complications, but he then had to wait 14 hours waiting on a trolley before a bed was available.

'Our NHS seems to be in the worst state ever - I used to be a nurse and I think it has changed for the worse,' said his sister-in-law.

'An 84-year-old man went through total agony over many hours when it could have been sorted at Bishop Auckland if the services had not been taken away.'

Despite living just a mile away from Bishop Auckland Hospital, the family were still forced to make two trips to the A&E department in Darlington.

'We have a perfectly good hospital on our doorstep and it cannot be used to change a catheter,' said Ms Horner.

'It was a very good hospital but now it is more or less gone.' 

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: 'County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, like many hospital trusts, is experiencing very high numbers of patients presenting at our emergency departments, as well as a high number of admissions and demand for beds.

'Our staff are working incredibly hard to manage these pressures but the number of patients we are seeing means that there have been longer waits in our emergency departments and in admitting patients to wards.

'We would like to apologise to any patients who have experienced a delay but express our appreciation for the public's support and understanding while we work to provide safe care during this busy period.'