At the meeting on Monday morning, Streeting told NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard and trust leaders to focus on improving emergency ambulance response times, handover delays and tackling the longest waits in A&E.

Streeting said: ‘This winter I want to see patient safety prioritised as we brace ourselves for the coming months. I'm asking trusts to focus on ambulance delays, handovers and the longest A&E waits.'

Last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out the Government's Plan for Change, which including a ‘purposefully ambitious' target for the NHS to carry out 92% of routine operations and appointments within 18 weeks by March 2029.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: ‘The NHS is already seeing unprecedented demand going into winter, with flu cases quadrupling, thousands more ambulance callouts and rising pressures causing unacceptable waits for patients.

‘Patient safety must be paramount, and speaking to local leaders today, the message was clear: we need every part of the NHS, and social care partners, working together to manage demand and ensure patients with the most urgent needs are prioritised.'

Measures in place to counter winter pressures include: monitoring hospitals 24/7 - to identify those needing targeted support to reduce long A&E waits and avoidable admissions; expanding same-day emergency care services; increasing the number of virtual wards; dispatching urgent community response teams; improving discharge for patients with complex needs; and delivering winter vaccinations.