"And because they're sick, you have to kind of understand why they are a little bit angry."

He said there were "crowded waiting rooms with vulnerable sick patients".

There’s plenty of footage showing Springer using his power as the show’s host to goad subjects into fights, call their romantic choices sick or depraved, or even crack jokes about their situation.

"No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency," she said in a statement announcing the rule.

The trust spokesman said staff were "working incredibly hard" to treat people as quickly as possible but warned some patients will "experience longer waits while we treat our sickest patients".