NHS in England to go back to highest alert level

The NHS in England is returning to its highest state of alert amid warnings that hospitals will continue filling up with coronavirus patients for at least another fortnight.

The switch to level 4 alert status means the NHS’s response to the resurgence of the pandemic is being handled nationally rather than regionally and that NHS England’s national incident coordination centre has once again become operational, following it being stood down in July. It will become operational at the same time as national lockdown measures come into force.

The national incident coordination centre will monitor which hospitals are coming under the most pressure and decide what steps need to be taken to respond, for example by diverting patients with spare capacity and managing non-coronavirus-related care.

Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, has said that the umber of people being infected with coronavirus was rising across the country. He said that the ‘north-west is particularly under pressure’, but conceded that infection rates are now rising and rising faster in the south.

Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, admitted that the pressure on hospitals from coronavirus was increasing so sharply that the health service could have to abandon its ambition that patients seeking normal, non-coronavirus care during the second wave of the pandemic should be able to get it.

NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said the return to the highest level of emergency preparedness confirmed that ‘the health service is once again facing one of the most challenging periods in its history’.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, said: “Despite months of preparation for the second wave, this is going to be an extremely difficult winter for the NHS and will place a further burden on staff who have worked relentlessly since the start of the pandemic to care for patients.”