Doctors condemn need for Red Cross to step in to aid NHS in “humanitarian crisis”

Doctors’ leaders have attacked the government for allowing pressure on the NHS in England to grow to the extent that the volunteer charity the British Red Cross has stepped in to help the NHS, highlighting the urgency of need.

The British Red Cross said that several NHS trusts had called on it in recent weeks to help them cope with demand and described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis” in some areas. The charity said that it had deployed staff to help out in hospitals and had provided transport for discharged patients, in particular to support the East Midlands Ambulance Service on New Year’s day. It was also having talks with several hospitals about providing additional support, it said.

The charity has a longstanding arrangement to step in and help NHS providers and local authorities that come seeking help in particularly busy times, but it is unusual for it …