Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 2
Second Report - Delivering core NHS and care services during the pandemic and beyond
Published 1 Oct 2020
Paragraph 22
Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Health and Social Care Committee Delivering Core NHS and Care Services during the Pandemic and Beyond All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Notwithstanding the actions taken to date, we recommend that NHS England & Improvement review, as a matter of priority, the directions given to NHS Trusts about how to communicate with patients about the progress of their treatment and important medical guidance in any future spike or second wave. As part of this review, NHSE/I must ensure that patients are always treated with dignity and compassion. We ask that as part of that review, NHSE/I makes an assessment of its and hospitals’ communication with patients—and provide us with an update by the end of October 2020. We also ask, as part of this review, that NHSE/I address how they will communicate to the general population to ensure that the public gets the message that the NHS is open, and that those who have fears of catching COVID-19 in medical settings are not discouraged from accessing medical treatment.
From: Health and Social Care Committee, Second Report - Delivering core NHS and care services during the pandemic and beyond (HC 320), paragraph 22, 1 October 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 15 January 2021 (deadline 1 December 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government and NHS England respond to the Committee's report by setting out action taken on waiting times, PPE, staff testing, A&E, digital care and workforce wellbeing, with some answers qualified as work is ongoing.
- On waiting times, the response says the NHS "will be taking stock" of its elective programmes "early in the New Year" to set operational goals for 2021/22, and that forecasts of waiting lists are "at this point unlikely to be accurate".
- On routine staff testing, it says asymptomatic testing of all patient-facing NHS staff "is now possible", with full roll out under way as test kits are delivered.
- On PPE, the government is "confident that there will be a consistent supply of PPE this winter" and says it is "firmly committed" to addressing difficulties with fit.
- On dentistry, it says challenges "will endure into 2021/22 and beyond" and that it will "seek a longer-term contractual position with the BDA".