More than half of doctors fear that their hospital will be unable to cope this winter, according to a poll which also found fewer than a third had been involved in any planning for the coming months.

The Royal College of Physicians said that if staff were concerned that “the wheels could fall off at any moment”, it would lead to increased pressure and low morale.

Almost six in 10 doctors reported feeling “very worried” or “worried” about the ability of their hospital to deliver safe patient care over the winter period. The poll, conducted by the RCP, found that only 17% of respondents were “confident” or “ very confident” about preparations.

A total of 1,761 UK foundation doctors, trainees, consultants and speciality and associate specialist (SAS) doctors responded to the poll.

The government announced last month that it was set to inject an emergency £240m into the social care system to ease pressure on the NHS this winter, and stave off a crisis.

But of those responding to the poll, 96.2% said they did not know how that money would be used to reduce the pressure on their hospital. Just 67 respondents said they knew how emergency funding for social care would be used to reduce the pressure on their hospitals, from providing beds in the community to employing more carers.

Professor Andre Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “We know the government and NHS are doing much more to plan for winter than they were prior to 2017/18. But these findings show it is still not filtering down to staff on the wards, who need to feel confident that plans are in place to deal with the inevitable increase in demand, so they can get on with the job of providing direct clinical care”.

“When we’re concerned that the wheels could fall off at any moment, the pressure goes up and morale goes down.”

The survey found that just 29.2% of respondents had been asked to take part in planning for winter in their organisation, compared to 69.1% who had not, and 1.7% who answered that they did not know.

Asked how confident they felt about the ability of their service to deliver safe patient care this winter, just 2.4% replied “very confident” and 14.6% were “confident”. A larger proportion, 38.5%, were “worried” and 19.8% were “very worried”. The remaining 24.6% were “neutral”.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow heath and social care secretary, said: “This is an alarming poll of doctors on the front line and indicates the health secretary must do more to prepare the NHS this winter.

“There was no extra cash for acute trusts in the recent budget for winter and we know many hospitals are facing intense pressures following this year’s ‘summer crisis’.

“It would be unforgivable if patients suffer another winter like last year. Ministers urgently need to reassure us they have a plan and will make proper funds available.”

The survey follows a report which indicated there have been “clear warning signs” that the winter could be even tougher than that of 2017 for NHS England trusts.

The report, by NHS Providers, the body which represents trusts, warned last month of pressures across all hospital activity, higher levels of staff vacancies and a more tired and pressured workforce.

Last winter, non-urgent operations were postponed and hospital corridors were overflowing with patients as staff worked to clear the backlog. As A&E units diverted patients to other hospitals, thousands of patients were looked after by ambulance crews for at least half an hour before they could be handed over to nurses.

A NHS spokesperson said: “As the Royal College of Physicians notes, extensive planning for winter is well under way and hospitals should be working closely with their frontline staff to prepare.

“Frontline staff getting vaccinated against flu is also important to help reduce the pressure on services over winter. It is also vital that councils and hospitals work together to target the extra £240 million social care funding on support to get patients home quickly.”



