PM to announce extra £3bn for NHS

Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to announce £3 billion in extra funding for the NHS to help it prepare for a second wave of coronavirus this winter.

According to various media reports, the money will be available immediately to enable the health service to free up capacity by utilising private hospitals to help clear the backlog of patients waiting for tests and treatments in the wake of the current pandemic.

The funds will also be used to maintain the Nightingale hospitals until Spring next year.

BBC News noted that the PM is also expected to announced plans to widen COVID-19 testing capacity at a press conference later today, with a new target of 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.

More detail on the government's road map for recovery is also expected.

The move comes amid huge concern that the NHS will buckle under the pressure of a second wave of coronavirus infections as it already grapples with existing disruption caused by the virus, a massive backlog of patients awaiting medical attention, and other challenges it normally faces in the winter period.

In the last week, the Academy of Medical Sciences urged the government to act now to minimise transmission of coronavirus in the community, reorganise health and social care staff and facilities to maintain COVID-19 and COVID-19-free zones, secure adequate PPE and increase testing capacity.

Dr Layla McCay, a director at the NHS Confederation, also stressed that “an effective test and trace system will be more important than ever to identify and isolate people at risk, and so is absolute clarity and consistency from the government on its public messaging as lockdown measures continue to be relaxed.”

A No 10 spokesperson told the Independent that the prime minister “is clear that now is not the time for complacency, and we must make sure our NHS is battle ready for winter.

“He will set out a broad package of measures to protect against both a possible second wave, and to ease winter pressures and keep the public safe.”