Letter to Prime Minister on Brexit and COVID-19
PM urged to seek one-month extension to Brexit transition period as COVID-19 and new variant add further complications to a possible no-deal Brexit.
As COVID-19 and the new variant add further complications to a possible no-deal Brexit for the NHS, the NHS Confederation asks the Prime Minister to seek a one-month extension to the Brexit transition period.
Come 1 January, the NHS will be battling the greatest challenge in its history during what is traditionally its busiest time of year. There are now nearly 19,000 patients in hospital with Covid-19, close to the first wave peak and the conveyor belt is picking up speed as we head into the festive period. On Sunday we saw the rate of recorded positive cases in the UK double over a week. The backlog of non-Covid patients waiting over a year for treatment now stands at 160,000 patients, while we are rolling out the largest vaccine programme ever undertaken with a tired and depleted workforce.
