Dr Sarah Woolaston claims that although NHS budgets are at a record high, demand is outstripping it.
The Totnes MP is now chair of the health select committee, having been a practicing doctor for 24 years.
She wants hospital beds to be empty more often.
She told the Western Morning News that beds hardly ever get cold and should be used just 85 per cent of the time, rather than 95 per cent currently - to give more flexibility to cope with winter pressures
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