Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 9
Ninth report - Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic
Published 6 Jan 2022
Paragraph 65
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)
It is not acceptable for patients awaiting planned treatment or feeling the debilitating effects of long covid to feel “abandoned” by the NHS. We appreciate the uncertainty about the length of future waiting lists, but this is no excuse for lack of communication—whether this be confirmation of a patient’s next round of treatment or simply a conversation to assure them that they have not been forgotten. We heard that waiting lists are not static, that conditions can worsen, and that active management is recommended. A commitment to keeping in touch would not just benefit individual patients, but also help local systems actively to manage their lists and inform decisions about prioritisation.
From: Health and Social Care Committee, Ninth report - Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic (HC 599), paragraph 65, 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.