Winter pressures are mounting on the NHS. Several hospital trusts have declared critical incidents in recent days and the health secretary has said that some of the stories being told by NHS patients make him feel "ashamed".

NHS leaders have warned that the peak of the flu cycle has not yet hit, with February and March potentially worse for the health service.

Multiple hospitals across the country have declared critical incidents after emergency departments were swamped by a surge in winter flu cases. As of Tuesday evening, NHS England confirmed at least a dozen hospitals had declared the health system’s highest alert level as the rise in respiratory cases led to “exceptionally high demands”.

Flu cases are skyrocketing, causing huge problems for hospitals, NHS England bosses are warning. Last week the number of patients in hospital in England with the virus topped 5,400 a day on average – around 1,