2022-23 was probably the worst ever winter for the NHS, after a steep collapse in performance. This year’s been a little better — new figures confirm — but how was this achieved, and what does it mean for coming months?

This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast reviews the latest figures on emergency care performance — across A&E waits, ambulance delays and response times, discharge and length of stay.

On nearly all measures, services have been better this winter than the year before, but only a little bit, and still well down on 2019 levels, which were already poor.

We discuss what the service did to claw back performance, and the prospects for the coming year.

With Dave West, Matt Discombe and Alison Moore.

Send views and questions to dave.west@hsj.co.uk.

Why this winter was (a bit) better in the NHS