Hospitals in England can relax some Covid restrictions to help tackle backlog

The government has announced that hospitals in England can relax some Covid-related infection, prevention and control measures going forward, in a bid to increase capacity and ease pressure on the NHS as we head into the colder months.

The changes were recommended by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and were approved by Ministers following the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, explains: “As ever more people benefit from the protection of our phenomenal vaccination campaign, we can now safely begin to relieve some of the most stringent infection control measures where they are no longer necessary to benefit patients and ease the burden on hardworking NHS staff.”

The recommendations relate to social distancing, testing and cleaning

The initial recommendations include three interventions which relate to social distancing, testing and cleaning practices:

1. Physical distancing in elective care services can be reduced from two metres to one metre with appropriate mitigations where patient access can be controlled. This is in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance.
2. Negative PCR tests and three days of self-isolation will no longer be required before selected elective procedures. Instead, patients who are in low-risk groups and are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic will need to show proof of a negative lateral flow test on the day of their operation alone. Patients who are contacts of a confirmed case of Covid-19 will still need to go through the current PCR pathway.
3. Standard cleaning procedures (rather than enhanced cleaning procedures) are now permitted in pre-agreed low-risk areas, such as planned or scheduled elective care. This new advice comes as the WHO and other international authorities stated that there is currently limited evidence on transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via surfaces. Evidence does suggest, however, that good hand hygiene should still be practiced as this is likely to be more effective than enhanced cleaning procedures.

Staff will still be required to comply with asymptomatic Covid testing

Some Covid-19 rules have stayed the same, for example, staff will be required to continue to comply with the current guidance on asymptomatic testing and those working in ‘low-risk’ areas should still be fully vaccinated, asymptomatic and not a contact of a positive case.

The government says that “rigorous adherence” to the new measures by all staff remains critical for patient safety and must continue to be implemented.

The decisions of when and where to implement these changes will be left up to local providers, and should be based upon factors such as the configuration of wards and departments, local capacity and the ability to ventilate spaces.

Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive, said the initials steps should help the NHS “treat patients more quickly, while ensuring their safety and balancing their different needs for care.”

Further steps that can be take in other settings such as primary care, dentistry and ambulance trusts, are now being considered by the Agency.