NHS trusts in England have been advised to restart non-covid urgent services over the next six weeks, as pressure caused by the virus is expected to ease.

A letter issued by the Chief Executive of NHS England has outlined detailed plans to move towards providing urgent appointments and surgery at pre-pandemic levels

It also says work should be undertaken over the next ten days to assess whether there is further capacity for “at least some routine non-urgent elective care”.

On Monday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the NHS in England would start restoring services which were scaled back due to the coronavirus outbreak, starting with the most urgent such as cancer and mental health support.

In Scotland, one of the UK’s leading surgeons has called for the NHS to have a plan to deal with the “huge” backlog of cancelled operations that have built up during the covid-19 crisis.

Professor Michael Griffin, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said it is essential that health boards in Scotland set up ringfenced hubs that focus on the most urgent surgeries.

NHS patients are currently being sent to four private hospitals across Scotland for urgent breast and skin cancer surgery to ensure vital operations can go ahead.

The letter from NHS England Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens states:  “Over the next six weeks and beyond we have the opportunity to begin to release and redeploy some of the treatment capacity that could have been needed while the number of covid-19 patients was rising so sharply.

“This means we are now asking all NHS local systems and organisations working with regional colleagues fully to step up non-covid-19 urgent services as soon as possible over the next six weeks.

“This needs to be a safe restart with full attention to infection prevention and control as the guiding principle.”

The letter adds judgements should be made over the next ten days on whether there is further capacity “for at least some routine non-urgent elective care”.

“Provisional plans will need to factor-in the availability of associated medicines, PPE, blood, consumables, equipment and other needed supplies.

“We will continue to provide new ventilators to trusts over the coming weeks so as to sustain critical care ‘surge’ capacity should it again be needed in future, while progressively returning operating theatres and recovery suites to their normal use.”

healthandcare.scot has asked the Scottish Government for comment on restarting scaled back services in NHS Scotland.

A Scottish Government document published last week outlining the factors for easing lockdown restrictions, said despite the NHS remaining open for those who need it, there had been “significant reductions in people seeking help.”

It stated: “This will impact on those most at risk. The health impacts brought about by greater inequalities may themselves be significant over years to come.

“We must adapt to ensure that our health and social care services can resume this wider care as soon as possible, and this forms part of our planning for the period ahead.”

 

 

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