Covid-19

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

On future vaccinations, my noble friend raises an important point, and many will have seen in the media and elsewhere all the discussion about living with this vaccine. At the moment, we have boosters at six months; as the technology and the understanding get better, it seems likely that we will move to annual vaccinations, as we do flu jabs. I cannot say that for definite, but the trend is going that way, given the development of the virus, the variants and the waning immunity over time. The effectiveness of each vaccine at the moment is six months, but one can see the longer term. However, please do not take that as a given—if that is incorrect, I will update the House.

On public transport: I went to a funeral today, and as I was travelling back on the underground, it said, quite clearly, that you must wear a mask, so that is being encouraged. It is part of plan B if we have to move to plan B, but all that data is being analysed and constantly updated with different factors. There is no one trigger for moving to plan B. In previous appearances at the Dispatch Box, I have read out the list of all the factors that are considered. At the moment, the main message is: the vaccine works. We want to encourage people to get the vaccine and especially try to reach those communities that have not even had their first or second vaccine yet.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee of the GMC and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Can I ask the Minister about the impact on the NHS generally and the pressure it is under? He will be aware that the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges issued a statement a few weeks ago on its concern about the abuse of NHS staff. What are the Government doing to ensure that NHS staff are able to go about their work without the horrific abuse that many have had to endure?

Secondly, I refer the Minister to the report of the Royal College of Physicians, a census that shows that 48% of advertised consultant posts across the UK were unfilled last year? Does this not show that Covid has exposed the frailties in the NHS? Unless the Government grip this workforce issue quickly, the pressures on the service are going to get worse and worse. What are the Government doing?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord raises a really important point on staff, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in our health system. The Government have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and harassment; we are investing in better security at GP surgeries and are committed to working with the NHS to make sure our primary care workers feel properly supported. We are also constantly having conversations with trusts and the NHS generally about making sure that staff feel safe to work and how we can make sure that that happens. Anyone who has visited a hospital recently will have seen the signs about zero tolerance.

We are constantly talking to NHS England about workforce pressures. We are looking at specific campaigns—for example, we have announced social care recruitment—and other campaigns to attract more workers to the NHS.