An emergency summit is needed to find ways to ease the pressure on struggling A&E departments, Labour has said.
More than a dozen hospitals have declared "major incidents" as they struggle to cope with the rising number of admissions in accident and emergency departments.
Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge was the latest hospital to activate a major incident plan on Tuesday evening, warning patients they faced long waits due to "unprecedented levels for demand for our services".
David Cameron has admitted the NHS is under pressure following the release of figures showing waiting times at A&E in England have hit their worst level in 10 years.
But he dismissed claims the service is on the brink of disaster.
The Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has published a letter accusing his opposite number of failing to anticipate the current problems.
Reports of fire engines and police cars being increasingly used as ambulances raised "major patient and public safety concerns", Mr Burnham wrote.
He told Sky News: "There are thousands of people today waiting on a trolley in hospital corridors, held in the back of ambulances outside A&E, people who cannot get the care they need in a very serious situation.
"The emergency services are not functioning as they should be. That's a serious issue. It requires urgent action and constructive suggestions, and that's what I'm asking the Government to do immediately."
Mr Burnham said the summit needed to include representatives from the police, fire and ambulance services as well as NHS professionals.
The latest figures on A&E waiting times showed just 92.6% of patients were treated within the four-hour time limit against a target of 95%.
The British Medical Association said the records showed the "unprecedented levels of pressure" on the health service and the Royal College of Nursing said the system was in "crisis".
But Mr Cameron said there was a "short-term pressure issue which we need to meet with resources and management".
He added: "A lot of the pressure on A&E is coming from frail, elderly people, often with many different health conditions and the best place for them, frankly, is not A&E.
"They should be being looked after by the family doctor or in other health settings and I think the long term challenge is to make sure those sorts of settings are more available."
The hospitals that have declared major incidents are:
:: The Royal Bolton Hospital
:: Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge
:: Scarborough Hospital In Yorkshire
:: Royal Stoke University Hospital
:: Peterborough City in Cambridgeshire
:: Gloucestershire Royal Hospital
:: Cheltenham General Hospitals
:: Walsall Manor in the West Midlands
:: Croydon Hospital in south London
:: Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals
:: Ashford and St Peter's hospitals in Surrey
:: Stafford's County Hospital
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