Traumatised medical staff are refusing to be redeployed back to Covid wards, limiting hospitals’ ability to respond to a projected surge in patients triggered by the Omicron variant, NHS chief executives have warned.
Government scientists say there could be between 1,000 and 2,000 daily admissions to hospital within weeks. This will hit the NHS at the worst possible time as the service battles an existing capacity crisis of not enough beds or staff, which is already affecting patient care. There are logjams at every stage of treatment.
Internal NHS modelling predicts peak winter pressure will come in early to mid-January. Across England, hospitals are getting ready for what could be the toughest weeks the NHS has yet experienced.
One hospital chief executive from the Midlands,
