Journalists from two sister dailies joined forces to conduct a special investigation into the NHS ‘crisis’ on their respective patches with the resulting coverage subsequently raised in Parliament.

Express & Star and Shropshire Star reporters worked together to create the eight-page exposé which was featured in both papers on Tuesday.

The team spoke to one doctor who described the hospital where she works as being “like a war zone.”

Such was the impact of their coverage that it was highlighted by Telford MP Lucy Allen during the government’s Health and Social Care Committee meeting later the same day.

Dr Amy Attwater, an emergency doctor from Pattingham near Wolverhampton, told the papers: “When I get to work, it is chaos, like a war zone. The noise is unbelievable and there are patients everywhere. They can be squeezed in cupboards and blocking fire exits.

“It scares me that if there was a fire, we might not be able to get everyone out alive, as the department is like an obstacle course. I know the media always say there is a ‘winter crisis’ but this is like nothing we have ever experienced before, even during Covid.”

Journalists interviewed a paramedic and an ambulance call handler who said: “We have seen paramedics literally spending their whole shift in the back of an ambulance, then another crew has to come and take over from them. It is absolutely heart breaking because all you do all day is apologise.”

Martin Wright, editor-in-chief of the MNA Media-owned titles, said the investigation had given readers “an incredible insight into the state of the NHS.”

Said Martin: “The investigation is an incredible eye-opener for anyone wondering what our nurses, doctors and ambulance teams are having to deal with every day.”

“We have first-hand accounts from those on the front line in the NHS – and it does make for shocking reading. Our eight pages of in-depth analysis look at the pinch points faced by patients, and we also consider the possible solutions to the UK’s health crisis.”