In response to the Coronavirus
bill, Professor Andrew Goddard, president of
the Royal College of Physicians said:
'In exceptional times, exceptional measures are necessary.
Reducing paperwork, allowing staff to move outside of their
normal duties and encouraging nearly qualified staff and those
who may have recently retired into the workforce is welcome. It
is key that the NHS uses the skills and experiences of these
people appropriately to provide additional capacity in an across
the NHS and Social Care.
'But these are hugely stressful, worrying and exhausting
times for all healthcare staff and these measures won't change
that. More than ever, doctors and their colleagues are putting
their own health and wellbeing on the line and we must keep
looking for ways in which to support and protect them in the
coming weeks and months. The quicker that priority testing for
NHS and Social care staff, and their families can be rolled out,
the quicker staff will be able to return to the front
line.
'Society as a whole is worried, people don’t know if they
will still have jobs and an income at the end of this crisis. We
welcome the government’s action to introduce stability for
business, but now they must turn their attention to supporting
individuals and protecting and boosting peoples incomes. Without
this people are going to be placed in the impossible position of
having to choose between bringing in an income and their
health.'
