Chris Hopson, the health secretary, has warned that breaking the Coronavirus lockdown will have impacts for the NHS
The NHS Providers chief executive, who representing trusts, predicted “meaningful” pressure on the NHS in the coming days and weeks. A senior health-care official has warned that once coronavirus limitations are lifted on July 19, the NHS will be in a dangerous position and will suffer the effects.
Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, which representing NHS trusts, said that the health sector would be under “severe” strain in the following weeks, adding that hospitals would “had to throttle back on elective treatment.”
His remarks came as England’s NHS waiting list hit a new high of more than 5.3 million people. However, in May, 242,064 people were admitted to hospitals in England for normal treatment, more than 4 times the number a year earlier, when hospitals were treating thousands of coronavirus patients.
We should be upfront and frank and honest about the reality that there are dangers and implications if these limits are relaxed, Mr Hopson said.
Another 456 Covid patients were admitted to hospitals throughout the UK on Thursday, the highest daily amount since mid-March, increasing the total number of patients presently being hospitalized to 2,636. In critical condition, 417 of them require ventilator.
Mr Hopson said ambulance trusts were particularly stressed, with 80,000 more events last month than in June 2019, an increase of 11% and the most dangerous category one occurrences up 27% in the same span. She told the Public Accounts Committee in the House of Commons that NHS Test and Trace was essential for disrupting virus transmission and decreasing cases by up to a third.
