COVID-19: How well-protected was the medical profession?

The BMA has launched a review into the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic – from the impact on the medical profession to the NHS and social care systems and public health.

This is the first of five BMA reports, each with a particular focus on the pandemic response.

The report finds that the wider health and public health systems entered the pandemic under-resourced.

Before the pandemic, health systems across the UK were operating in an environment of scarcity; general health spending was below that of comparable countries and there were chronic shortages of nurses, doctors and beds.

A better staffed and better resourced system would have been more able to deal with the acute spike in demand and high staff absence rate caused by the pandemic.

It recommends:

• Maintain adequate workforce, investment, and future workforce plans including how many staff are needed to meet current and future demands.
• Improve capital investment, modernise physical infrastructure and improve ventilation of the NHS estate by implementing clear standards, with funding and equipment to meet them.

Read more here.