Concern Covid-19 could be an excuse for not restoring health services
A senior councillor says he is worried that coronavirus could become an “excuse” for restored services to be slow or incomplete as the health system restores after the peak of the pandemic.
Andy Burford, Telford and Wrekin’s cabinet member for health and social care, said he had heard about “virtual appointments for things like physiotherapy” – something he said was a waste of the specialist’s time and unsatisfying for the patient.
He said he saw “no excuse whatsoever for specialists not being able to see patients, even with a build-up in Covid cases”, but Clinical Commissioning Group Planning Director Sam Tilley said new processes, including social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment, made service restoration “hugely complex”.
She said: “We have to be realistic in our approach to this and the way we communicate with the public about managing their expectations.”
At a joint meeting of the governing bodies of the county’s two clinical commissioning groups, Interim Executive Director of Transformation Steve Trenchard said, out of the 106 services that were stood down by various providers at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, 47 had been fully restored. Thirty-six more had been partially restored.
During Mrs Tilley’s presentation to the Health and Wellbeing Board about the CCGs’ winter planning, Councillor Burford said: “I’m just concerned that some services, even before we go into this difficult period, are not functioning the way they should.
“Phlebotomy, for example; people are struggling to get a blood test. Physiotherapy, where it seems very hard to get a face-to-face appointment even though others working in close proximity, like dentists, are now getting back up and running.
“I’m just concerned that in some instances, at least, there’s a danger of it becoming almost an excuse for not delivering in the way that’s necessary.”
Mrs Tilley said: “Yes, we have to be vigilant around the way that services are restoring to make sure that, as far as we are able, we are providing the right services in the right way to our public and patients.”
She said there are now “a whole different set of parameters” that did not exist before the pandemic, including social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment.
“It takes a lot longer now to carry out procedures and see patients than it did previously,” Mrs Tilley said.
“Whilst we are working extremely hard to restore services back to as close as possible to the previous levels, we have to be realistic in our approach to this and the way we communicate with the public about managing their expectations, that we will not see a full return to services pre-Covid because there are steps we need to take to protect them and our staff.
“I completely share your ambition to be providing the right services to patients, we do have to bear these other factors in mind.”
Councillor Burford said he was not underestimating the complexities.
“However, I do have examples, for example where people are given virtual appointments for things like physiotherapy, which clearly aren’t going to do the job,” he said.
“If the specialist’s time is available, a virtual appointment for something like that is probably not the best use of it and isn’t going to satisfy the needs of the patients.
“I’m just concerned that we keep our eye on the systems don’t allow things that needn’t slip to slip.”
