As the National Health Service (NHS) continues to face an unprecedented staffing crisis, one of its bosses is warning that some measures taken by hospitals at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, could be reintroduced this winter as the more vacancies remain unfilled.
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‘Honest conversation’
According to the Telegraph, Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation lobbying group, painted a rather bleak picture of the health service’s capacity this winter. He is of the opinion that the public ought to be informed on the worsening healthcare system crisis adding that some services may no longer be available in the winter.
Some of the likely measures he suggested include services being moved between hospitals to free up capacity. Mr Taylor told Times Radio on Sunday:
The two things that were critical about Covid were, first of all, we said in a sense, ‘don’t worry about the rules, the regulations and the targets – do whatever you need to do to solve the problem’. I think we need that similar spirit at the moment.
Other Covid-style measures
According to the Telegraph, other proposals include hospitals focusing on specific treatments where appropriate, helping to keep patients away to prevent overcrowding. They will however be encouraged to prioritize protecting patients, which could mean not following all the regulations that would normally be covered.
The NHS Confederation, which Mr Taylor oversees, said it does not want to see any return to Covid curbs. However, he admonished that some measures need to be taken soon to prevent a full-blown crisis.
As I’m sure you’ve heard people say, we’re in August, and it feels, in the health service, like we’re in the middle of winter. We’ve got winter to come and there are worries about flu and about another Covid variant, so there’s huge pressure.
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