title: The NHS in crisis.
abstract: How serious is the situation in emergency departments? Figures for England showing how many patients were discharged, transferred or admitted within four hours in January were the worst on record, at 85.1%. Add to this very high attendances at emergency departments and admissions, and a growing number of 12-hour waits for a bed and this does look like an unprecedented crisis. There is also a large number of trusts declaring Opel 3 and 4 alerts (the new black and red alerts). Attendances at major A&Es increased by 5.5% from 2015 to 2016, and many hospitals and ambulance services reported their busiest-ever days in January this year.