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NHS chief responds to new national lockdown

12:00am | & Health

NHS Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis has responded to the announcement of a new national lockdown beginning on Thursday.

“Daily hospital covid admissions are now higher than on March 23rd, when the Prime Minister announced the first national lockdown,” said Prof. Powis. “NHS doctors and nurses in many areas of England – including Liverpool, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire – are now treating more Covid-19 patients than at the peak of the first wave.”

But the NHS chief, pictured right, said his organisation is now better placed for a second wave: “The NHS has learned a lot since the start of the pandemic and has used the summer to prepare further, while also restarting services that were disrupted by the first covid wave. We have new life-saving covid treatments such as dexamethasone, trialled and tested here in the NHS.

“We better understand the type of oxygen therapies patients need and the best ways in which to care for them to aid recovery. 14 day survival rates in intensive care have improved from 72% to 85% since the pandemic began.

“Capital investment is helping hospitals boost their A&E capacity and treat patients safely by separating COVID and non-COVID general and critical care beds. We also announced that three of the Nightingales in the North of England (Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate) are ready to mobilise, with Manchester taking its first patients this week.

“However, it takes around a fortnight for today’s infections in the community to result in hospital covid admissions – so what happens over the next two weeks is partly baked in. But the measures announced today will help reduce the number of admissions beyond that, preventing more people contracting this debilitating and sometimes fatal disease for which there is currently no cure or vaccine.”

Prof. Powis added: “Throughout the first wave, care was available to everyone who needed it and the NHS continued to treat thousands of people with and without COVID-19. Doctors, nurses and all NHS staff are determined to do the same throughout this second wave.”

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