Keep isolation and free Covid tests, plead NHS bosses
Senior NHS staff have urged the Government to keep Covid isolation and free tests amid fears a ‘”gung-ho” approach to lifting restrictions could jeopardise the NHS’ recovery plans.
Boris Johnson has pledged to end all restrictions next week, but a survey found senior NHS staff strongly disagreed with plans to end free Covid tests, and self-isolation.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said the government could not pretend the threat from Covid had “disappeared entirely”.
“Hospital admissions and deaths linked to coronavirus continue to fall nationally and this is allowing the NHS to bring back many routine services that it was asked to deprioritise during the peaks of the pandemic, including some non-urgent elective procedures.
"With the success of the vaccine and new Covid treatments, this offers real hope as we learn to live with the virus.
"But the Government cannot wave a magic wand and pretend the threat has disappeared entirely.
"So much is uncertain still, including our long-term immunity and the emergence of future strains, which requires a solid testing infrastructure and clear guidance around self-isolation to remain in place.
"A lot is at stake for the NHS’s recovery ambitions if the Government is too gung-ho in its plans for exiting the pandemic, which is why health leaders are calling for a cautious and evidence-led approach. This must not be driven by political expediency."
The survey of 307 senior staff found 79 per cent strongly disagreed or disagreed with the plan to scrap free Covid tests for the public.
In the survey, 94 per cent of the NHS leaders polled said testing for health staff and other key workers must also continue - NHS staff are currently asked to test at home twice a week.
It also found that more than three-quarters would disagree with any axing of the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive Covid result.
More than four in five (82 per cent) would be against ending compulsory mask-wearing in the NHS and care homes.
NHS also didn’t want the weekly Office for National Statistics infection survey to be dropped or scaled back, as has been reported.
Royal College of Nursing chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Ending the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test is a big leap in the dark. Our members, for whom this pandemic is far from over, need to know there is a sound scientific basis for doing it.
"Rather than passing the buck and leaving it up to employers and individuals to decide, ministers must grip the issue and present a clear plan for health and social care staff.”
Prior to the recess, Mr Johnson pledged to end all remaining restrictions a month early on February 24, if the numbers continue to fall.
This means measures such as free tests, the requirement to self-isolate and the use of face coverings in certain settings will be removed.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the Standard: “We are hugely grateful to all NHS and care staff who have gone above and beyond and we continue to support them.
“Thanks to our phenomenal vaccine rollout, anti-virals and testing programme we are one of the freest countries in Europe. We continue to monitor the data closely and next week we will set out our plans on how we will live with Covid-19 in the long term.”
