Accident & Emergency departments need almost 3,000 more doctors to cope with unprecedented pressures which could trigger a major crisis this winter, MPs have warned.

A report by the Commons health committee says hospitals are “running too hot” with record occupancy levels leaving too few empty beds to cope with surges in demand.

Experts said the NHS was “going in to its toughest winter yet, with the odds stacked against it.”

MPs said hospitals had too few staff to respond to pressures which are being fuelled by cuts in social care services.

A&E departments need at least 8,000 doctors – 50 per cent more than the 5,300 currently employed - to keep pace with the rise in emergency admissions in the last five years, the report says.

More than 1,000 more consultants would be needed to match demand, the report says, citing evidence from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).

The head of the health committee last night raised fears that a “cold snap” could be enough to push services into chaos.