Bill Harvey: In one ear

As I write this, news continues to flood in thick and fast. Today marks the reintroduction of a number of NHS services previously prevented under the lockdown, including cancer treatments. I liked the quote from the NHS representative on the Today programme who suggested we would not think of the coming months as a ‘recovery’, but instead as a ‘reset’. This is a timely reminder that health services will never be the same again, and the excellent response of our profession in triaging, treating and offering valuable reassurance and assistance to reduce the strain on secondary services will be noticed. Hospitals will be feeling the pressure for many months to come and it is most unlikely that a ‘refer all’ policy by ECPs will ever be acceptable again – in any CCG area.