Covid demand piles pressure on the NHS

The demand caused by coronavirus on hard-pressed h o s p i ta l s m ay n ot b e reached until early to midFebruary, MPs have been warned.

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said it was "pretty clear" that the Covid-19 infection rate was not going to go down as quickly as it did during the first wave because of the new strain.

He told the Health and Social C a re S e l e c t C o mmittee that this could push the peak of NHS demand back to February and lead to a higher level and longer period of pressure on staff and services.

Mr Hopson added: "We were hoping for a sharper peak that came sooner and was shorter – where we saw the peak and started to crest it in mid-to-late January.

“It now looks like the peak for NHS demand may actually be in February. If that is right, that's going to mean there's a higher level and more extended period of pressure on the NHS."

Mr Hopson also told the committee there had been a "mismatch" in the NHS between rising demand and its capacity for 10 years.

Staff were expected to “work harder" to cope with this increase in demand eve n b e fo re th e pandemic took hold.

He added: "We c a n n ot ke e p tr y i n g to run the NHS and close that capacity-demand mismatch by effectively asking our staff to work harder and harder and harder.

"The message we are getting very clearly is that people will do everything they need to do in this immediate period, because they don't want to let their colleagues down, they don't want to let patients down.”