Amid the covid chaos and ever- climbing cases in England this week, the team try and dissect what’s going on. Our expert journalists discuss what is really means for the NHS to be “overwhelmed”, how the latest surge is affecting intensive care provision and the workforce and whether it’s time to return to the national emergency management approach to keeping the health service on its feet.

There is a silver lining we didn’t have in the spring – the vaccine – so we also discuss how the mass vaccination programme is progressing.

Featuring Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins, Matt Discombe and Dave West.