Waiting lists may have fallen, but the current surge in flu cases in the UK could bring the National Health service to its knees.

Hospitals across the country are implementing emergency measures in order to cope with the massive increase in flu cases. Over the Christmas period there were an estimated 45,000 sufferers.

One hospital in East Anglia has been forced to use a refrigerated lorry as a temporary mortuary after an unexpected increase in deaths.

Ambulance services in the North West have been receiving more than 1,000 calls every day, which is almost twice what they would have expected.

The West Midlands has also been badly hit by the flu crisis, with one hospital having to close its accident and emergency department at one point over the weekend.

So will this flu outbreak be the death of the NHS?

Health Secretary Frank Dobson said the government had pumped £200m extra cash into the NHS this winter, and had made more intensive care beds available.

But he did admit that there is very little slack in the system to cope with an upsurge in flu cases.

Shadow Health Secretary Ann Widdecombe thinks the winter bed crisis was worsening under Labour because of the party's preoccupation with waiting lists for "purely party political reasons", she said.

"The patients being force to wait on trolleys for treatment in accident and emergency units will not be very impressed by Frank Dobson's boasts about waiting lists," she added.

And as the flu looks set to spread south, Campaigns Director for pressure group London Health Emergency is preparing for the worst:

"This flu epidemic is the last thing London needs at the moment and will pile pressure on to services that are already struggling to cope," he said.

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