Responding to the letter from NHS England and NHS Improvement setting out operational priorities for winter and 2021/22, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said:

"This letter lays bare the size of the challenges trusts face in what is likely to be the most difficult and demanding period in the history of the health service in terms of managing the pandemic, the task of maintaining and recovering wider NHS services and delivering a large scale vaccination programme.

"The document rightly highlights the importance of support for the whole NHS workforce. Critically this must include trust leaders who are dealing with unprecedented pressures in order to provide the best possible care for all patients, COVID and non-COVID."