Ambulance response times for emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes are taking twice as long as they should, while three in 10 patients who arrive at A&E spend more than four hours waiting to get seen.
The BBC has been looking at another part of the system as well – the wait the seriously ill and injured face when A&E staff decide they need to stay in hospital.
Many of these are the elderly patients who will be on trolleys in corridors and in makeshift bays. In November, nearly 40% waited more than for hours for a bed to be found. Before the pandemic 25% did.
It is why the Royal College of Emergency Medicine is warning patients are at risk of severe harm.
But there are also some positive signs in the latest data – ambulance response times have shown a slight improvement on the month before.
Some of the work to improve community support and tackle queuing outside hospitals may be helping a little.
But with the worst of winter still to come no-one in the health service will be getting complacent.
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