Paramedics have reached "breaking point" as patients are dying before they can respond to 999 calls due to overwhelming numbers of Covid cases in hospital, a study suggests.
Three out of four emergency service workers are struggling to cope and have asked for improved PPE, with many turning up for shifts terrified, according to the GMB union.
GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said the "system is collapsing" in straits far worse than the first lockdown last March.
The troubling study comes after the head of the NHS revealed today that hospitals across England are taking on a new Covid patient every 30 seconds.