Health Services: Coronavirus

(asked on 11th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve support and care for vulnerable patients with (a) respiratory disease, (b) cancer and (c) chronic diseases during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 27th January 2021

In with line the wider National Health Service, the Cardiovascular Disease and Respiratory programme has focused its work in 2020/21 on the response to COVID-19 and has spent £5.5 million to support the response to the disease including work on ‘long-COVID’. This included bringing forward the implementation of Respiratory Clinical Networks by one year. The networks are vital in promoting an integrated approach to respiratory care during COVID-19 and are in parallel supporting delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan’s priorities.

Cancer services have continued throughout the pandemic. The strategy for maintaining services through the second wave of COVID-19 is concentrating on maintaining or stepping up hubs for cancer surgery and maximising independent sector use, along with further rolling out of Rapid Diagnostic Centres. This work is being overseen by the Cancer Recovery Taskforce, who will publish a recovery plan shortly.

Throughout the summer and autumn of 2020, the NHS has run an ongoing media campaign ‘Help us to help you’, encouraging patients to seek urgent medical help when they are unwell, including clear messaging for patients with heart attack symptoms to call 999.

With a rise in COVID-19 activity, we’ve been clear that non-COVID-19 services will be maintained as far as possible. Essential care should only be postponed if a clinician and patient agree it is in the patient’s best interests. Doctors will always have the safety of patients at the centre of any decisions they make.

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