MORE than 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for increased NHS funding and a thorough investigation after two patients died on trolleys at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The petition, started by Worcester man John Allen on the campaigning website 38 Degrees, calls on Prime Minister Theresa May and health secretary Jeremy Hunt to take action over the crisis engulfing the hospital.

As previously reported, two patients died on trolleys in the hospital's corridors between Saturday, December 31, and Tuesday, January 3.

Mr Allen said: “The NHS is at breaking point. The reason for this is simple: the government isn’t giving the NHS the funds it needs to survive.

"Our NHS was set up post-war when the country had nothing. There is no reason why – as one of the richest countries in the world – our healthcare should be taken back to the Victorian era. We have a role to play to save our NHS and save lives.”

The text of the petition reads: "As residents of Worcestershire, we are appalled that patients are being forced to wait for hours in corridors at Worcestershire Royal A&E, and that some patients have died before a bed could be found for them.

"We demand improved funding to make our NHS safe for everyone who needs it; an investigation into corridor deaths at the Royal Worcestershire A&E."

Worcestershire Acute Trust, which runs the hospital, maintains that the patients did not die on corridors, and were instead taken into cubicles.

A spokesman for the trust said: "The recent deaths reported were not 'corridor deaths.'

"To avoid any misunderstanding and to reassure the public, who are rightly worried by this suggestion, the fact is that no patients died in our corridors over the Christmas or New Year period, so the petition is calling, in part, for an investigation into something that didn’t occur.

“However we would like to reassure local residents that we are working hard to ensure that our services are safe and the length of time people wait in A&E are kept to a minimum."