NHS pressure ‘unbearable’, medics warn Rishi Sunak as PM told to take action

Royal College of Emergency Medicine chief warns government may attempt to ‘discredit’ figures suggesting up to 500 deaths a week from delays in care

Current pressure on the NHS is “unbearable and unsustainable”, with the crisis likley to continue until Easter, leading medics have said, amid warnings that delays in emergency care could be causing the deaths of up to 500 people each week.

A Welsh health board declared a critical incident on Monday as it tackled an “unprecedented” surge in patients, as other hospital trusts appealed to the public not to attend A&E departments unless their condition is life-threatening.

Prof Phil Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association council, hit out at Rishi Sunak and health secretary Steve Barclay as he offered a stark warning about the scale of the problem.