The Prime Minister will tomorrow announce additional winter
funding for the NHS of over £3 billion.
Extensive measures are already being put in place to ready the
NHS - both for the risk of a second peak, and to relieve winter
pressures on A+E and emergency care.
This funding will be available immediately, and will allow the
NHS to continue using additional private hospital capacity and
maintain the Nightingale hospitals until the end of March.
This will provide additional capacity for covid patients should
it be needed, and allow the NHS to carry out routine treatments
and procedures.
At a press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister will
publish an additional chapter to the Government's COVID-19
recovery strategy “road map”.
He is also expected to confirm plans to increase testing capacity
to half a million antigen tests a day by the end of October to
bolster the NHS Test and Trace programme.
The Health Secretary has already confirmed plans for the biggest
flu vaccine programme in UK history. The flu vaccine is currently
free to those deemed most at risk, including pregnant women,
over-65s, carers and primary school children, with expanded
eligibility criteria to be set out shortly.
We will also continue to fund the NHS’s enhanced discharge
arrangements to ensure patients can be quickly and safely
discharged from NHS hospitals, and to free up beds for other
patients.
A No10 spokesperson said:
“Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of the British people,
the virus is under control and we have eased restrictions in a
cautious, phased way.
“But the Prime Minister is clear that now is not the time for
complacency, and we must make sure our NHS is battle ready for
winter.
“Tomorrow, he will set out a broad package of measures to protect
against both a possible second wave, and to ease winter pressures
and keep the public safe.”
Despite the success in reducing the burden of the disease from
its peak in the spring, ministers are fully aware that winter
will present further challenges.
The increased prevalence of seasonal illnesses are likely to
increase individuals’ vulnerability to infection, particularly
among the elderly.
The pressure on the NHS is already higher in winter due to other
seasonal illnesses, such as the flu.
This will present challenges for the capacity of the NHS Test and
Trace programme, given the potential for a rise in other
respiratory viruses with similar symptoms.
Targeted testing programmes are already running for people at
greatest risk of contact with the virus, such as weekly testing
for care home staff, testing asymptomatic NHS staff, and working
with employers such as Addison Lee to test their staff.
A new marketing campaign will launch shortly to increase
awareness of eligibility for testing, and access through local
walk-in testing sites.
The government has been developing scenarios for the winter to
inform planning across government. In the coming months, we will
assess what the UK can learn from other nations, and carry out
exercises to stress test our winter plans.
In the meantime, the government continues to audit critical
winter stockpiles of equipment and PPE, and we will make sure we
have all the stock we need.
This funding will be for the NHS in England only. Details of
Barnett consequentials, where applicable, will be set out in due
course.
