The chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, was interviewed on Radio 4's The World This Weekend today to discuss the pressures facing the NHS. Summary comment below:

"Trusts are doing all they can to work with colleagues in social care, including support with staff and budgets, but the reality is that the social care sector lost around 50-70,000 staff in the last six months.

"We are seeing social care staff being lured to the retail, logistics and hospitality sectors for significant sign on bonuses, so we have called for the payment of a winter retention bonus to social care staff if they are prepared to stay in the sector until next March.

"Everywhere you look there are significant amounts of pressure and we are now at the point where we have to take quick emergency measures.

"And the task is getting harder because of the demands of the booster campaign.

"Following the longest and deepest financial squeeze in the history of the health service the NHS has been unable to build up the capacity that it needs to deal with growing demand.

"Trusts will do all they can this winter but we need a proper grown up conversation about what capacity health and social care need to deal with that growing demand."