DAVID CAMERON today dismissed warnings of a crisis in overwhelmed A&E departments – despite rocketing waiting times in Southampton and elsewhere.

Quizzed in the Commons, the Prime Minister insisted casualty departments were “hitting the important targets”, because of higher government investment.

He told MPs: “Since this Government came to office, there are one million more people walking into A&E and half a million more people having in-patient treatments.

“The fact is that waiting times are stable or down, waiting lists are down and the NHS is performing better under this Government than it ever did under Labour.”

The comments came after Labour leader Ed Miliband warned of a “crisis in our A&E services across the country”, with hospitals full to bursting.

At the weekend, the Daily Echo revealed the number of patients enduring long waits for treatment at Southampton General Hospital has leapt by almost 700 per cent in just 12 months.

The statistics measure the numbers waiting more than four hours – the key government target – in the first week of April, compared with the same period one year ago.

They show that 741 patients had to wait more than four hours at the General this year – up from just 93 in 2012.

There was also a huge rise at Hampshire Hospitals Trust, which includes Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, from 71 patients to 262.

Between December and February, bosses were forced to put Southampton General Hospital on ‘black alert’ 27 times - cancelling non-emergency surgery.

In the Commons, Mr Miliband said A&E patients were waiting on trolleys for more than 12 hours. In one case, a hospital had to pitch a tent outside to deal with the huge numbers.

He said: “The number of people waiting longer than four hours in A&E is nearly three times higher than when you came to office. First you downgraded the A&E targets - and now you are not even hitting that.

“As you approach your third anniversary as prime minister, you need to explain why an A&E crisis is happening on your watch.”

Southampton health chiefs have pointed to “an extremely busy and prolonged winter” as one of the reasons for longer waiting times in A&E.

They identified the problem of delays in discharging fit patients who are unable to go home because appropriate care packages are not in place.

Mr Miliband said the new 111 advice line - set up to replace NHS Direct - was in crisis, with “40 per cent of calls abandoned because they were not answered”.

The Tory-led health select committee announced has an urgent inquiry into NHS emergency services “under growing pressure as demand rises and resource pressure grows”.