‘Intolerable’ NHS crisis to continue until April, health leaders warn

Ministers urged to recall parliament amid warnings patients are dying needlessly due to inaction

The crisis engulfing the NHS will continue until Easter, health leaders have warned, as senior doctors accused ministers of letting patients die needlessly through inaction.

More than a dozen trusts and ambulance services have declared critical incidents in recent days, with soaring demand, rising flu and Covid cases and an overstretched workforce piling pressure on the health service.