Elderly patients stuck in hospital beds are ageing 10 years in 10 days, the new medical director of the NHS has warned, as he called for sweeping reforms of the health service.

Prof Stephen Powis said the biggest task facing the NHS is to adapt to “profound shifts” in patterns of ill-health, by building community services to keep pensioners out of hospital.

In his first intervention since taking up the post, he suggested the current approach was jeopardising the health of the most vulnerable, by “trapping” patients in unsuitable settings, which stripped too many of long-term mobility.