NHS Providers is today urging MPs to vote in favour of the new national lockdown restrictions, amid concerns that the larger the vote against new lockdown restrictions in parliament later today, the greater the risk to public compliance, which will be needed to ensure the health service has the capacity it needs this winter.

In an unprecedented move, the organisation which represents every NHS trust and foundation trust in England has sent an open letter to MPs ahead of today’s debate and vote in parliament.

The letter acknowledges the ‘difficult choice’ between a lockdown and the impact of renewed restrictions on peoples’ liberties.

   

The letter acknowledges the ‘difficult choice’ between a lockdown and the impact of renewed restrictions on peoples’ liberties, livelihoods, their mental health and on the wider economy.

However, it concludes that the current strategy to control the spread of the virus – the tiered approach to local lockdowns and test and trace – has failed.

The letter points out that in the last seven days the NHS has seen nearly 2,800 new COVID-19 admissions, the equivalent of five whole hospitals full of COVID-19 patients within one week.

Some trusts are already seeing more COVID-19 patients than at the height of the first wave, and despite doing everything they can to avoid this, the hospitals under the greatest pressure are now being forced to cut back on planned surgery.

The letter warns that if the NHS has too many COVID-19 patients it won’t be able to treat winter emergency patients in the way they need, and it will slow down work to recover the backlog of care that built up during the first wave of the pandemic.

But for the measures to work, public support and compliance will be key.

   

But for the measures to work, public support and compliance will be key. The letter urges politicians to consider very carefully the powerful signal their vote will send in shaping the wider response to lockdown, and therefore the ability of the NHS to maintain high quality care for all patients – COVID and non-COVID - in the difficult coming months.

“Maximising public compliance and support for the new lockdown is vital if we are to ensure the NHS has the capacity it needs this winter. Trust leaders are worried that the larger the vote against the regulations, the more that public compliance and support will be at risk. We are therefore asking you to vote in favour of these regulations.”