Responding to the publication of the planning guidance by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

"This planning guidance provides the NHS with much needed clarity for the next six months, setting tight deadlines for actions the NHS needs to take against a backdrop of high operational pressure. It rightly acknowledges the NHS' incredible efforts in bearing down on the backlog of care, dealing with unprecedented demand across urgent and emergency care and mental health, and taking forward the vaccination programme, all while facing the continuing threat from COVID-19.

"It is good to see an ongoing focus on supporting the health and wellbeing of staff and taking action on recruitment and retention. But we need more than warm words, particularly as we head into what many expect to be the most difficult winter the NHS has ever faced.

We need to see rapid and tangible action on workforce shortages to address high levels of staff vacancies and burnout.

Saffron Cordery    Deputy Chief Executive

"We need to see rapid and tangible action on workforce shortages to address high levels of staff vacancies and burnout, in order to meet the ambitious targets to step up elective and cancer care, and manage the increasing demand on mental health services.

"Recent funding announcements have provided a much-needed boost. But we must be realistic about the scale of the challenges ahead and the risk that ambitions to meet pre-pandemic levels of activity could be thrown off course if pressures on the service become unsustainable over winter. And looking further ahead, the clear signal that discharge to assess funding will end is extremely worrying and will impede recovery efforts.

"Trust leaders will welcome the focus on improving access to services and addressing address health inequalities. As we outlined in our new briefing today, Health inequalities: a core concern, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating and unequal impact across our society, and it is right that there is an impetus across all healthcare providers to address this."