Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 7
Ninth report - Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic
Published 6 Jan 2022
Paragraph 60
Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Health and Social Care Committee Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The response to long covid shows both the kind of integrated, patient-centred care the NHS can provide when systems work effectively, and the frustration and detriment experienced by patients who have to “fight” to access to the right care when systems do not work effectively. We heard that long covid provided an opportunity to develop truly integrated services, and that care—although variable—was excellent in the best centres. We welcome NHS England’s commitment to provide effective long covid services. However, during our inquiry we heard heart-rending testimony from people who had struggled to access the care they needed, and who did not feel believed or cared for. This is simply not acceptable. We note that NHS England’s current plan for long covid extends to 2022. With covid-19 set to become endemic, NHS England must ensure that its plans to tackle long covid continue. We understand that knowledge of covid-19 and long covid is constantly evolving, and that plans will therefore need to adapt over time, but we are likely to see increasing numbers of people living with this condition. We cannot afford to let them down.
From: Health and Social Care Committee, Ninth report - Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic (HC 599), paragraph 60, 6 January 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 May 2022 (deadline 6 March 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee's report on clearing the pandemic backlog sets out how it is working with its arm's length bodies to help the NHS clear the elective care waiting list.
- The response is to the Committee's ninth report of session 2021-22, 'Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic'.
- It was published by the Department of Health and Social Care on 12 May 2022, with an accessible HTML version added on 17 May 2022.
- The page summary does not state which recommendations the government accepts or disagrees with, or give specific commitments or dates. Readers should consult the full 34-page response for these.