Millions of people received hospital treatment between December and March – with record numbers being seen within the four-hour target which was 380,000 more than last year.

But as more people seek emergency care, the percentage of hospitals meeting standards has hit a 15-year low, with experts warning the NHS is “creaking at the seams”.

Over the winter months, more than seven million people were treated in A&E within four hours.

Pauline Philip, national director of emergency and elective care, said staff had worked “tirelessly” to improve.

She added: “The millions of people in England who have benefited from NHS care will therefore want to join me in paying thanks to all health service staff for their exceptional efforts.”

However, experts warn the sheer demand for the health service has left it “creaking at the seams”.

Tim Gardner, senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said: “The record number of people treated within the four-hour target over the last 12 months is testament to the huge efforts of NHS staff.”

Between December and February, 135,000 more planned treatments started within 18 weeks, compared to the same period last year, and 330,000 extra diagnostic tests were also carried out.

But Professor Derek Alderson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, hinted the improvements could partly be down to the mild winter.

He said: “The NHS did not have to resort to the same cancellations of planned operations we saw last year to deal with high demand. With 380,000 more people on the waiting list compared to the same time last year, today’s data shows far too many patients are still having to wait for too long.”

Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, said there had been rise in since “undoubted improvements in care this past winter” but recognised the “intense and continuing pressure frontline NHS services continue to have”.

The number of patients attending A&E has soared by 3.2 million since 2011/12 – an extra 8,700 people a day.

It rose by almost one million in the last year alone, reaching 24.8 million.

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