NHS Providers welcomes Public Health England review on COVID-19 risk and outcomes disparities

Commenting on the publishing of the Public Health England review, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

"We welcome the publication of Public Health England's rapid review into factors impacting health outcomes from COVID-19.

"This review supports earlier findings by the Office for National Statistics, helping to give us a clearer picture of the disproportionately large toll this pandemic has taken on black and minority ethnic people and communities and the reasons why. Trust leaders are concerned about increased risk to BME staff, reflecting the wider inequalities long faced by BME staff in the NHS workforce, and this report will add to existing resources supporting a more informed response to this challenge.

"We look forward to seeing how the government plans to respond to these concerning findings."

NHS faces challenges in restoring some routine activities

Responding to the Nuffield Trust's new report, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, said:

"We welcome this report from the Nuffield Trust which highlights the challenges for the NHS of restoring some routine activities while maintaining our guard against COVID-19.

"We share many of the concerns raised here, particularly over testing, personal protective equipment (PPE) and ongoing pressures on staff.

"Our recent report Towards a new normal: Balancing COVID-19 and other healthcare needs highlighted the importance of ensuring rapid, regular and reliable testing to all staff and patients. Despite recent progress, this remains a long way off.

"We also agree with the report's concerns about PPE. It is difficult for a trust to ask patients to start self isolating for 14 days prior to surgery, if the trust only has four to five days supply of the sterile gowns required for that surgery.

"And the Nuffield Trust is right to highlight staffing and capacity pressures for a workforce that is already overstretched, exhausted, and in some cases, traumatised by the experience of being on the frontline of the pandemic."