Health bosses today issued a stark warning over the “brutal” Covid-19 pressures the NHS is facing this Easter.
The NHS Confederation, that speaks for healthcare organisations, warned that Easter will be as “bad as any winter”.
They also called for a return to mask wearing and better ventilation in public spaces as they accused Downing Street of “abandoning interest” in the pandemic.
It comes amid very high rates of Covid-19 infections that are having a “major impact” on the health service.
The NHS is caring for 20,000 Covid-19 patients coupled with high rates of staff absences and huge demands on emergency care.
“No.10 has seemingly abandoned any interest in Covid whatsoever.”
- Matthew Taylor
Matthew Taylor, chief exec of the NHS Confederation, said: “The brutal reality for staff and patients is that this Easter in the NHS is as bad as any winter.
“But instead of the understanding and support NHS staff received during 2020 and 2021, we have a government that seems to want to wash its hands of responsibility for what is occurring in plain sight in local services up and down the country.
“No.10 has seemingly abandoned any interest in Covid whatsoever.
“NHS leaders and their teams feel abandoned by the government and they deserve better.”
The group said that in the last week alone 20 emergency departments in England have been forced to turn patients away as they issued “diverts” due to being too full.
They also questioned whether plans to tackle the record backlog of care were realistic and said ministers should reconsider asking the NHS to pay for Covid-19 tests for staff – estimated to cost “several hundred million pounds” which is being taken away from patient care.
Taylor said the nation was “behaving as if this pandemic is over, but it is not over in relation to the challenges facing the health service”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “Although we’re much better at dealing with Covid, with fewer people dying and ending up in intensive care, it is still a disease that puts immense pressure on the health service.
“It is adding to the demand which already exists – partly to do with the number of people who are waiting for treatment.
“We have a situation in our health service now which is as bad as any winter, even though we’re approaching Easter and it’s really important that we understand that this has happening.”
He said the country did not have a “Living with Covid” plan and instead accused No.10 of an ideology of “living without restrictions”.
Taylor also reported that the NHS had suffered several “key incidents’ including emergency departments turning ambulances away.
A spokesperson for Department of Health and Social Care said: “The success of our vaccination and antivirals programmes alongside increased public understanding on managing risk means we can start living with Covid – with public health guidance and free testing focused on groups who are most at risk from the virus.
“We are incredibly grateful to NHS staff and we have set out our plan to tackle the Covid backlog and deliver long term recovery and reform, backed by our record multibillion-pound investment over the next three years.
“We are on track to deliver 50,000 more nurses by 2024, there are over 4,300 more doctors compared to last year, and we are investing hundreds of millions in growing the workforce.”