The Government was forced to plough over half a billion pounds in emergency cash into struggling NHS trusts in England last year, according to a "deeply alarming report".
The National Audit Office (NAO) report said the gross deficit of health trusts rose by 150% from £297m in 2012/13 to £743m in 2013/14.
It found a quarter of NHS and foundation trusts were in deficit by the end of the financial year, with the number in the red rising from 25 to 63 over 12 months.
Some £511m was spent bailing out 31 trusts in England in 2013/14 - nearly double the £263m spent in the previous year - including 16 trusts that had not previously needed a cash injection.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "An increasing number of healthcare providers and commissioners are in financial difficulty. The growth trend for numbers of NHS trusts and foundation trusts in deficit is not sustainable."
Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, added: "This is a deeply alarming report. I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say that the future sustainability of our National Health Service is at risk.
"Things are getting worse rather than better and we all know that when trusts are under this kind of financial stress it is the quality and safety of patient care that can suffer.
"The department, NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority between them must explain to my committee how they are going to get a grip on this wholly unsustainable situation and get our NHS back on track."
The Department of Health (DoH) allocated £95.2bn to NHS England in 2013-14 to pay for NHS services, the NAO said.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: "Week in, week out NHS staff go the extra mile to ensure their patients get excellent care.
"But an ageing population, a growing population and the possibilities of new treatments all mean that pressures are real and we need to get going on the new path set out in the NHS five-year forward view."
The DoH said the NHS budget had increased by £12.7bn since 2010 and the majority of health providers are still in financial balance or better.
A spokesman said: "Financial discipline must be as important as safe care and good performance. Many NHS organisations are already achieving this and all understand the need for greater efficiency.
"Our reforms put power in the hands of local doctors and nurses to make decisions and control their own budgets to make sure patients receive the best services."
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said "serious questions" need to be asked about how the "financial crisis".
She said: "There is clearly an urgent need for addressing these financial issues and there is a need for targeted programmes which will improve the funding situation and enable better care for patients.
"We cannot use lack of funding as an excuse for poor patient care and every effort must be made to ensure that the NHS provides safe high quality care and maintains dignity for its patients at all times."
Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "This report delivers a devastating verdict on the NHS re-organisation David Cameron said would not happen. It has brought the NHS to the brink of bankruptcy by wasting £3bn."
He demanded that the Prime Minister lays out an urgent plan to show how he will turn the NHS around and insisted that a Labour government would rescue the health service by funding more staff as part of a promise to spend £2.5bn.
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