In response to a new report by The King's Fund comparing the NHS to other countries' health systems, Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said:

"It's very worrying that after a decade of underinvestment, severe staff shortages and insufficient capacity to meet increasing demand that our overstretched NHS isn't top of the international league table when it comes to certain performance indicators and outcomes.

"This telling report shows us why. Less is spent on healthcare per person here than in many other countries and we have fewer doctors and nurses per head than most similar nations.

"The NHS is almost bottom of the league when it comes to investment in vital machines such as CT and MRI scanners per person.

"And the NHS has an alarming, mounting bill for repairs to ageing buildings and equipment – more than £10bn at the last count.

"But despite this an overstretched NHS continues to perform well on access to care compared to other countries.

"Trust leaders have made great progress in reducing the longest waits for operations, cutting waiting lists for diagnosis and ensuring that more people are starting urgent treatment for cancer – a top priority. Three in four people referred for suspected cancer now get a diagnosis or all-clear within 28 days.

"Trusts know that too many people are waiting too long for treatment and are working flat out to see patients as quickly as possible. But every bit of the NHS is under strain including hospital, ambulance, mental health and community services, with record demand for urgent and emergency care.

"These findings back our call for more investment to improve NHS performance, capital funding to upgrade buildings and the publication of the government's long-awaited NHS workforce plan to boost staff numbers."