Recommendation 18

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation. Yet, a submission that we received from academics working on lessons from loans to support businesses through Coronavirus noted that it is unclear whether government would be able to reinstate the scheme at short notice without the implementation issues experienced when it was first introduced.30 In January 2022, the NHS obtained a ministerial direction to enter into a contract for spare surge capacity with private sector health providers which, based on information available at the time of our session, will cost at least £75 million a month. During the session we noted that, had government embedded learning about planning from the early COVID-19 response, that contract might have been cheaper and might have 23 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.12 & 3.19–3.20 24 Dr Kate Hardy, Dr Xanthe Whittaker, Dr Nathan Archer, Dr Helen Norman, Dr Jennifer Tomlinson and Dr Katie Cruz (Ev TRE0007) 25 Statement by Neil Couling at the webinar The safety net in action? Universal Credit’s role in the crisis and the recovery, 27 May 2020, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0QTmqX0kkM, from 22’53’’ to 23’18’’ 26 Q 43 27 Qq 38–42 28 C&AG’s Report, para. 3.20 29 Q 40 30 Dr Christoph Görtz, Prof. Danny McGowan and Dr Mallory Yeromonahos (Ev TRE0001) 14 Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk not required a ministerial direction.31 We queried what percentage of NHS consultants also work for private sector health providers. The Department told us in written evidence that, based on a commercial report, about 20% of UK specialists work in private practice, and 2% work exclusively in private practice. Reports from private providers suggest that many consultants devote a small proportion of their total working time to private work and contractual provisions include that their work must not diminish the public res