Johnson about to set an extra funding of £3bn for NHS amid fears of a second wave of Covid during the winter. For PM the NHS has to be "battle ready".
Boris Johnson is going to pledge an extraordinary £3bn of extra funding for the NHS. This will help to fight the second wave of Covid during the next winter.
A No 10 spokesperson declared that PM wants the NHS to be “battle ready”. Government will make it available instantly and use it to to free up space in the NHS. This will allow to pay private hospitals and maintaining the built Nightingale hospitals until the end of March. Also, PM will unveil a a new section of the the government’s “road map” out of lockdown at a press conference.
PM is believed to set a goal to ensure the NHS can reach half a million test per day by the end of October, to assist the NHS Test and Trace program. The health service is preparing for what has been defined the most difficult winter in its 72 year of history. Ministers have announced the most wide vaccination plan ever seen.
A No 10 spokesperson declared that now the spreading is under control and lockdown eased in “cautious, phased way”. He said: “The prime minister is clear that now is not the time for complacency, and we must make sure our NHS is battle ready for winter,” he added. He will set out a broad package of measures to protect against both a possible second wave, and to ease winter pressures and keep the public safe.”
Next winter, NHS may have difficulty in facing seasonal diseases like flu and Norovirus, combined with staff sicknesses. In the past years, Governments have pledged extra money for the NHS but never of this magnitude. This additional money is for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will gain from Barnett consequentials, where elegible.