MPs urge for weekly testing of NHS staff

The Health and Social Care Committee has argued that a compelling case has been made for the nationwide routine testing of all NHS staff and they are yet to understand why it cannot be introduced.

The committee’s report stressed that it should be introduced as soon as possible before winter to help reduce the spread of the virus. Currently, NHS England and the government have said that any plans depended on the capacity available.

The cross-party committee of MPs is calling for urgent action to assess and tackle a backlog of appointments and an unknown patient demand for all health services, specifically across cancer treatments, mental health services, dentistry services, GP services and elective surgery.

Although acknowledging the immense burden placed on the NHS, their report, based on evidence from doctors, nurses, patient groups and NHS leaders, said that cancelled treatments and surgery had left some ‘in limbo’ and others ‘too scared’ to seek medical help.

Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the committee, said: “We are proud of the heroic contribution made by frontline NHS and care staff during this pandemic, which has saved many lives. Thanks to their efforts not a single coronavirus patient has been denied an intensive care bed or ventilator unlike in other countries. However the pandemic has also massively impacted normal NHS services, something that could have been mitigated with earlier infection control measures in hospitals and clearer communication to patients whose care was disrupted. Weekly testing of NHS staff has been repeatedly promised in hotspot areas - but is still not being delivered. Failure to do so creates a real risk that the NHS will be forced to retreat into being a largely Covid-only service during a second spike.

"We've heard of severe disruption to services, especially cancer, and here we could be looking at tens of thousands avoidable deaths within a year. If we’re to avoid this going forward it is time to give as much priority to avoiding harm and death caused by the interruption of normal NHS services and introduce mass testing for all NHS staff. Today we set out these and other steps the government and NHS leaders must take to manage services through a second wave."