COVID-19 Reports

At their meeting on 26 March 2020, the Members of the European Council committed to do everything that is necessary to protect the EU’s citizens and overcome the crisis while preserving the European values and way of life.

Beyond the urgency of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate consequences, the Members of the European Council called for preparing the measures necessary to get Europe’s societies and economies back to a normal functioning and to sustainable growth, integrating inter alia the green transition and the digital transformation, and drawing all lessons from the crisis.

The joint European Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures, presented by the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, responds to the European Council Members’ call for an exit strategy that is coordinated with Member States and that will prepare the ground for a comprehensive recovery plan and unprecedented investment.

This report highlights the NHS community sector’s response to COVID-19, and the critical contribution they made together with hospitals and other local partners to prevent the service from becoming overwhelmed during the first peak of the pandemic.

Over the past few months, community health services have stepped up and shown their value, flexibility and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges. Our community staff have adapted, transformed and delivered essential services during the most demanding and difficult time of their careers. COVID-19 has shown that with the right long-term funding, workforce and support from the centre, we can reimagine the NHS and deliver more care within and closer to home.

The report also explores the challenges presented by COVID-19 pressures and the support required from the government and the NHS national bodies to invest in a sustainable ‘new normal’ level of community service provision.

We hope it showcases the critical role that community health services have played during the pandemic and the central role they must play in our health and care system going forward. For far too long, community services have lacked due recognition and prioritisation at the national policy level. Yet they are firmly at the heart of every local health and care system.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic and looking ahead to the prospect of a testing winter, we stand ready to make the rhetoric of ‘bolstering care in the community’ a reality. How do we ensure community health services have the resources they need – both workforce and funding – to increase capacity and deliver more care closer to home?

How can we embed the transformation and innovation seen during COVID-19, at the same time as dealing with ever-increasing and competing demand on services? This report goes some way into setting out these challenges and a way forward.

We are, of course, grateful to the community provider chairs and chief executives who have
contributed their views and case studies to our research. This report would not be possible without them, and we hope it does justice to their incredible efforts throughout the pandemic.

Preparations must begin immediately for a winter peak of COVID-19 cases, according to a report by the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The ‘Preparing for a challenging winter 2020-21’ report, published in mid-July, indicates that a destructive combination of the disruption COVID-19 has already caused within the UK’s healthcare infrastructure, the potential of an additional winter flu epidemic, and a growing backlog of patients needing assessment and treatment for conditions other than COVID-19 could trigger a serious risk to public health in the UK this winter. The NHS is commonly under increased pressure in the winter months even without these factors, with colder weather leading to a rise in infectious diseases and increased severity of conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart attacks and strokes.

Professor Stephen Holgate FMedSci, a respiratory specialist from University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and chair of the report, said: “This is not a prediction, but it is a possibility. The modelling suggests that deaths could be higher with a new wave of COVID-19 this winter, but the risk of this happening could be reduced if we take action immediately. With relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases at the moment, this is a critical window of opportunity to help us prepare for the worst that winter can throw at us.”

Preparedness is key to facing winter wave

The report emphasises the immediate need for ‘intense preparation’ measures to minimise the risk of healthcare services becoming overwhelmed entirely, with recommendations including:

• A public information campaign aimed at reducing community transmission of COVID-19, to include tailored advice for at-risk cohorts;
• Broadening the scope of the flu vaccination programme to protect as many vulnerable patients and healthcare workers as possible;
• Ensuring system-wide infection control measures and adequate provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) in clinical settings; and
• The establishment of a comprehensive, population-wide surveillance system to manage a winter wave of COVID-19.

“This can be done, but it must be done now”

Vice President of the Academy of Medical Sciences Professor Dame Anne Johnson FMedSci said: “Every winter we see an increase in the number of people admitted to hospital and in the number of people dying in the UK. This is due to a combination of seasonal infections such as flu, and the effects of colder weather, for example, on heart and lung conditions. This winter we have to factor in the likelihood of another wave of coronavirus infections and the ongoing impacts of the first wave. We have to be prepared that we might also experience a flu epidemic this year.

“Faced with these potential challenges, and after an already tough year, it would be easy to feel hopeless and powerless. But this report shows that we can act now to change things for the better. We need to minimise coronavirus and flu transmission everywhere, and especially in hospitals and care homes. We need to get our health and social care, and the track, trace and isolate programme ready for winter. This can be done, but it must be done now.”