A series of hospitals will be designated as coronavirus-free zones during the second wave of the outbreak in a significant policy shift designed to ensure the NHS continues treatment for cancer and other conditions, the Guardian has learned.
NHS England is determined not to repeat the widespread suspension of normal service that occurred in the first wave, which doctors and charities have criticised for damaging patients’ health, leading to more deaths and creating a backlog of millions of treatments.
In a tacit admission that the March shutdown denied patients vital care, NHS bosses have drawn up plans for certain hospitals – mainly small district generals – to treat no COVID-19 patients and focus instead on common planned operations such as cancer surgery, hip and knee replacements, and cataract removals.
Under NHS plans, such “clean” hospitals will as far as possible be kept free of coronavirus patients in a reversal of the approach taken in spring. That should reduce the risk of patients admitted for normal care becoming infected with COVID-19 while on wards.
Source: The Guardian, 21 September 2020
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