WIREDGOV

Nick Ville, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, responded to the latest COVID-19 mortality figures published by the ONS 

“This is the fifth consecutive week that we have seen an increase in people dying with coronavirus and because of the reporting lag, it is too early to know whether the Government’s current interventions are having an impact. NHS leaders are telling us they remain concerned about what is around the corner as they respond to more hospital admissions, as well as rising cases in the community.

“We know some hospitals are already having to scale back the number of non-urgent procedures they are able to perform and plan for because of growing cases of the disease. This is happening earlier than they had anticipated and while their capacity and productivity is constrained already because of necessary infection control measures.

“The NHS has never been, and should never be, a COVID-only service, but politicians will need to be mindful that the growing prevalence of the virus will have an impact on what the service is able to deliver safely over the next few months, and that the aftermath of the pandemic will be felt for many years to come.”