Accelerated booster campaign ‘not sustainable’ amid record NHS pressure, says providers boss

The chief executive of NHS Providers has said the pressure on Britain’s health service is “not sustainable”.

Chris Hopson told Sky News’ Breakfast programme earlier today that record high emergency calls, the second-highest emergency admissions figures, elective procedure backlogs, alongside last night’s announcement to extend the booster jab campaign meant that the NHS is “busier than it’s ever been before.”

“That’s obviously a worry because it’s before the traditional winter peak in January and it’s before any cases really coming into hospitals and we are now starting to do in terms of Omicron cases, so we’re already at beyond full stretch, in our view, before either of those things occur so it’s a worrying time, but as you’d expect everybody on the NHS frontline is doing absolutely the best they can to provide the best possible care,” he argued.

He said the government’s pressure for an “extraordinary effort” to offer all over-18s a third dose of Covid vaccine before 2022, comes as healthcare staff are “very, very tired”.

Hopson explained that the removal of some beds to control Covid cases meant hospitals were operating with a deficit of 30-35 per cent of its beds

He also emphasised the issue of social care staff shortages, saying 11 per cent of hospital beds were currently occupied by who were fit to leave hospital but could not be discharged due to social care staff shortages, which he blamed on the absence of a “sustainable workforce model” across health and social care.

The sector currently faces a shortage of 100,000 staff.