Critically ill patients in areas overwhelmed with hospital admissions will be transferred hundreds of miles to where there is more capacity, according to reports.
It is the first so-called 'pairing' plan in the history of the NHS as an increasing number of hospitals face being overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, the Sunday Times reports.
It will likely see patients in the east of England being sent to the Midlands while those in London and the southeast, which are bearing the biggest brunt of the second wave of Covid-19, will be transferred to the southwest.
The reported plan comes as doctors warn of "horrendous" decisions having to be made to cope with record number of coronavirus cases, such as deciding who will be admitted to intensive