Chronic neglect of the NHS and a lack of planning before the pandemic have exacerbated the tragic impact of Covid-19, the chair of the British Medical Association will say.
In a speech to be given at the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting, Dr Chaand Nagpaul will highlight the fact that the health service was already in crisis, with waiting lists at an all-time high and record waits for cancer treatment – plus almost 90,000 staff vacancies before the outbreak.
He is set to say: ‘We will not accept a return the old pre-pandemic NHS, which was so patently under-staffed and under-resourced, where nine in 10 doctors are afraid of medical errors daily.
‘We will not accept an NHS running at unsafe bed occupancy and without spare capacity.
‘We will not accept an NHS unprepared for a pandemic, without vital PPE to protect the health and lives of health and care workers.
‘We will not accept an NHS in crisis every summer, let alone every winter.’
The warning comes only days after data showed that the number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment in England has risen to a new record high.
Some 5.6 million people had yet to start treatment at the end of July – the highest number since records began in August 2007 – however, Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that unless immediate action is taken, it could reach 13 million.
Dr Nagpaul also goes as far to say that the so-called Freedom Day on July 19, when many restriction were eased, was a ‘gamble’ that has since then contributed to almost 40,000 hospital admissions and more than 4,000 deaths.
The GP also has concerns about how far recently announced additional funding for the NHS and social care, as it continues to deal with the pandemic and a backlog of cases, will stretch.
What is the impact of Covid-19 in numbers?
The UK has seen more than 130,000 people die with Covid-19 since the pandemic began and there were 12,000 excess non-Covid deaths last year, the BMA says. In addition, the number of people waiting for routine treatments has reached 5.6 million.
The Government plans to raise £12 billion extra a year for the NHS and adult social care through a 1.25% rise in national insurance next spring.
The NHS will get most of the share for the first three years, with £5.3 billion allocated to social care, £500 million of which will be spent on workforce training and recruitment.
Last week, Metro.co.uk reported that under the plan, care costs will be capped at £86,000 from October 2023, and the Government will provide some means-tested support for people with assets between £20,000 and £100,000.
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