Operational pressures on the NHS because of covid are still high, and although admissions are starting to level off in some places, the usual winter challenge of patient discharge is more troubling than ever.

This week Sharon Brennan, Nick Carding, Annabelle Collins and Dave West reflect on the barriers to covid patient discharge, why funding from the Treasury is too little, too late and why domiciliary care is the real pinch-point.

We also delve into the logistics of vaccine delivery and why high-vaccinating areas of the country are seeing their vaccine supplies halved.

And, a gimmick or sensible worst case scenario planning? We reveal how much the Nightingale hospitals really cost.