Dear Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

We are writing to you as doctors and patients of the NHS, with the utmost urgency. The NHS is in a state of emergency and we need you to share your plan on how you will avert disaster this winter.

In England alone, 5.3 million patients were on waiting lists in August - the highest number ever on record. Last month that number hit 5.7 million. Staff are working harder than ever, but the NHS is operating far beyond its capacity, with over 90,000 vacancies. Healthcare professionals have been raising the alarm about this for years. We’ve been lurching from winter crisis to winter crisis, and with the addition of pandemic pressures this year we face an emergency.

Thousands of people are still being admitted to hospital with COVID every week, and thousands are dying each month. Back in September Mr Javid, asserted in the House of Commons that “life in the UK is almost back to completely normal”. This could not be further from the truth. Please tell us how you will:

* engage with healthcare leaders as a matter of urgency
* provide safe staffing levels for the NHS this winter, and
* actively support the current workforce to ensure their safety and the safety of patients

As Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, it’s your job to take responsibility. Your energy has been misplaced; adding to unfounded attacks currently being leveled against NHS staff, rather than proposing the solutions we desperately need.

The longer you delay taking action the more precarious our situation becomes. Please share your plan with us immediately.