Doctors are at loggerheads with ministers over the issue

BBC News Online examines the row and what is really happening on intensive care wards.

What is the row about?

The Intensive Care Society and ministers are at odds over whether or not NHS hospitals will be able to treat critically ill patients over the coming months.

The society, whose members work in critical care, says a shortage of intensive care beds means many hospitals will struggle to cope.

Its members have gone as far as to say that a winter crisis is now inevitable.

However, ministers have taken to the airwaves to strongly reject the claims.

They say there is a record number of intensive care beds and millions of pounds have gone into improving services in recent years.

In increasingly bitter exchanges, they have accused the society of being irresponsible and of scaremongering.

What are the doctors saying?

The Intensive Care Society says the slow growth in intensive care beds is to blame.

These beds are used to treat the sickest patients - those who are critically ill after an accident, major surgery or infection.

According to the society, the UK has some of the smallest intensive care units in Europe and spends less on critical care than many neighbouring countries.

It criticises the fact that intensive care beds account for just 2.6% of hospital beds. This compares to 4.1% in Denmark.

The society says that just 226 extra beds for the most critically ill patients have been opened since 1999 - averaging just one extra bed per intensive unit.

In addition, it claims that there is no evidence that �14m earmarked to improve services this year has reached patients.

What is the government saying?

Ministers have strongly rejected those claims.

They say that there are now 3,128 critical beds in NHS hospitals, representing a 32% increase since January 2000.

They say the government has spent an extra �299m on critical care over the past three years.

However, the society has hit back saying the increase in beds has not been in intensive care units.

Doctors say extra beds have been created in high dependency units.

While patients in these units are seriously ill, their condition is generally not as critical as those in intensive care units.

In addition, they say much of the extra money has gone on outreach services, which prevent unnecessary admission to critical care, rather than on extra beds.

Will there be a crisis this winter?

The NHS is always vulnerable to seasonal changes in demand for medical care.

Certainly, according to doctors many intensive care units are already full.

They say any upsurge in demand as a result of a flu epidemic for instance could push hospitals over the edge.

In addition, when intensive care units fill up they tend to have a knock-on effect on the rest of the hospital.