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NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard and various other NHS and departmental bigwigs were subjected to a gruelling two-and-a-half hour grilling from the Public Accounts Committee on Monday.

As we reported, Ms Pritchard appeared to use the public outing to roll the pitch for disappointing news ahead on various national targets NHSE had previously committed hitting.

She confirmed the target to return cancer treatment waits to pre-covid levels by March would be missed (as first reported by HSJ back in May) and that the NHS could “theoretically” miss its key 2025 elective target – to be carrying out 30 per cent more activity than pre-pandemic levels.

Perhaps most surprisingly, she also declined to give a firm commitment on whether she thought the system would hit the March target to clear all 78-week breaches from the waiting list, despite other NHSE directors, including Sir Jim Mackey as recently as this month, having said it was on track.

Ms Pritchard said: “We are doing as much as possible to safeguard delivery of this next important milestone… but within that there are risks, clearly, with what happens with covid, flu, workforce… Realistically, this is a very challenging milestone.”

The substance of the comments will come as no surprise to anyone who works in the health service. But hearing a usually optimistic leader painting such a bleak picture lays bare quite how bad things are.

Needs must vs fire risk

Trust chiefs have been told to avoid treating patients in corridors “wherever possible” this winter due to the fire safety risks.

NHSE has written to trusts warning them not to compromise on fire safety when using new or expanding spaces to accommodate more patients this season.

The guidance issued earlier this month tells trusts to complete new fire risk assessments before bringing any new part of the hospital into use for patient care.

It comes as emergency departments face increasing pressure to find more space for patients to ease long ambulance handover delays this winter.

The Institution of Fire Engineers has said corridor care should be avoided where possible, or risk assessed carefully when it’s unavoidable.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

It’s Disability History Month and the perfect time for Oliver Potter to highlight some of the work being done to improve the experience of disabled and neurodivergent staff across the health service. And in The Download, Nick Carding looks at research suggesting that GP practices which invest in digital tools are more likely to see their patients adopt technology as part of their interaction with their staff.