Doctors warn 1m will queue in A&E during ‘worst winter’

■ RECORD numbers of people are signing up to study medicine. Some 23,710 have applied for medical degrees, up five per cent year-on-year, reports admissions service Ucas. Its head Clare Marchant is ‘inspired’ by the students aiming to succeed on the ‘ever-competitive courses’.

MORE than a million patients could face long waits in A&E as the NHS faces its ‘worst-ever’ winter, doctors warn.

A potentially cold spell, bad flu season and the impact of Brexit could have a devastating effect on the health service, said the British Medical Association.

It said 10,000 more beds were desperately needed to avoid chaos.

A worst-case scenario, based on previous NHS data, suggests more than a million patients could be kept waiting four hours or longer at emergency wards – with a third ending up on trolleys.

BMA chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘Enough is enough. Right across the health service, trusts and GP practices will be bracing themselves for what looks set to be the worst winter the NHS has ever endured.’

Ahead of the General Election, the BMA

has also called for health spending to be increased by at least 4.1 per cent a year and for the pensions system – which is seeing senior doctors reduce their hours to avoid large tax bills – to be scrapped.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said ministers should apologise for the ‘winter of misery’ ahead.

He said: ‘Doctors on the frontline are confirming what patients are telling us every day – the NHS is in crisis.’