Bed blockers
Some 13,000 hospital beds across the country — or one in seven — are currently filled with patients declared fit for discharge.
The figure is triple the pre-pandemic average.
And there is huge variation across the country. In London, half of patients were discharged on time but the figure was as low as 28 per cent in the North West.
Experts say the numbers are being driven by a separate crisis in social care, leaving patients left to languish on wards for up to nine months because there is no suitable nursing accommodation or care available for them in the community.
The lack of beds has seen ambulances stuck in queues for 20 hours outside of hospitals this summer, as emergency medics scramble to find beds for patients. This is had a knock-on effect on response times.
Workforce shortages
The NHS, which employs over a million people, has around 130,000 vacancies across its entire workforce.
This reduces productivity, with too fewer staff to carry out appointments and procedures.
Health chiefs also warn that it stops staff from delivering high-quality care and can lead to safety concerns if too few staff are working.
In turn, medics are at a higher risk of burnout, illness and early retirement due to these factors.
Surge in seasonal viruses
More than 1,000 beds per day are taken up by patients severely unwell with seasonal viruses.
NHS data shows Britons sickened with influenza occupied 712 beds, on average, each day last week. Flu levels are much higher than this time last year.
Meanwhile, norovirus accounted for 318 taken beds per day and RSV saw 132 occupied.
Strep A fears
Nine children in the UK have died in recent weeks due to an outbreak of Strep A.
The bacterial infection is harmless for the vast majority. But it can cause life-threatening illness if the bacteria invade the blood, muscles or lungs.
Doctors have warned that AE, GPs and ambulances are in meltdown due to a surge in demand from parents worried that their child is infected.
Patients have faced longer emergency department waits, while some hospitals have postponed routine procedures to cope with demand.
Covid pressures
Around 4,700 beds per day were occupied by a patient infected with Covid in the week to November 30.
Two-thirds were primarily admitted for another ailment, such as a broken leg, but happened to test positive.
However, infected patients still pile pressure on the health service as they have to be isolated from others.
The virus also contributes to higher rates of staff sickness.
GP appointment crisis
Campaign groups, MPs and senior medics say desperate patients are turning to emergency and walk-in services because they can’t get a face-to-face appointment with their GP.
The average GP in England is responsible for 2,200 patients now – up from 1,900 in 2016.
In the areas with poorest access, up to 2,600 patients are fighting over one family doctor.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has previously warned difficulties in seeing a GP was leading to a crisis in emergency departments.