NHS crisis: Public back tax rises to boost healthcare - poll

More than two-thirds of the public would back an increase in income tax if the money was dedicated to the NHS, according to a poll for Sky News.

The survey by Sky Data shows 68% would support a 1% rise in income tax if the Government guaranteed to spend it on healthcare.

The results also reveal that 64% of people believe the service provided by the NHS is getting worse - and 57% expect it to deteriorate further in future.

The NHS is currently under unprecedented pressure.

Hospitals have not met their A&E targets for several months because they have been overwhelmed by patients.

Sky News spent a day in Milton Keynes University Hospital to see how the pressure is affecting care.

The staff are doing their utmost to ensure patients get safe care. However, they concede that it is still not to the standard they would like.

Mandy Knight, head of nursing in the A&E unit, said: "We all came in to nursing to look after patients and do the best we can for them.

"But when you are in a full Emergency Department you can't always do that - because you're busy."

Hospitals across the country have seen demand for care soar in recent weeks.

Since Christmas, dozens of hospitals have declared "black alerts" - signalling the extraordinary pressure they are under.

Milton Keynes hospital has a 28-bed unit dedicated to routine surgery. But at times this winter almost half of the beds have had to be prioritised for emergency patients.

It has meant patients have had planned operations cancelled at the last minute.

Kathriona McCann, the divisional manager of surgery, said the unit has to juggle patients.

"Every one of them has their own story of why they need that surgery," she said.

"It is never easy to make those decisions. Some of them have been waiting quite a few weeks and some of them months."

Like all hospitals, Milton Keynes is being squeezed by the lack of care beds elsewhere in the system.

Georgette Newell, 86, was well enough to be discharged 12 days ago. But the rehabilitation unit she has been referred to has no space for her, so she occupies a hospital bed she does not really need.

"It must be very upsetting for people who need the bed space. I feel guilty," she said.