However, updated guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that by 21 June, staff will no longer have access to free parking in council-owned off-street car parks and on-street bays.
The union Unite warned the move, which comes in line the government’s next phase of its Covid-19 roadmap, could worsen the spread of the latest highly transmissible variant of the virus first identified in India, by encouraging staff to switch to public transport.
As local councils are responsible for setting their own local policy on parking, it is understood that councils can choose to continue the offer.
Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary who now chairs the Commons health committee, said the integrated care systems would be very powerful and asked how local people would be able to gauge the quality of care – and if Hancock could consider ratings systems, as for hospitals.
“It is nonetheless the right thing to do, and a brave thing to do,” said Hunt, who began his speech by praising staff at his local hospital in Surrey who had treated him that morning after he slipped during a run and broke his arm.
Sarah Wollaston, Hunt’s predecessor as health committee chair, who was a Conservative and then Liberal Democrat MP before leaving the Commons in 2019, also praised the broad direction of the plans, saying they brought a “welcome end to expensive and time-consuming contracting rounds”.
UK hospitals in difficulty amid surging new coronavirus cases medicaldialogues.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicaldialogues.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
January 2, 2021 Share
British hospitals around the country face a perilous situation in January, medical workers warned Friday amid surging coronavirus infections blamed on a new virus variant. Authorities pressed to reactivate field hospitals previously mothballed just to handle the crush of new patients.
Concerns are mounting about the ability of the already stretched National Health Service to cope with the anticipated increase in people seeking treatment for COVID-19 infections over the coming weeks that could be further fueled by holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year’s.
On Friday, the U.K. recorded another 53,285 new infections, down slightly from the previous day’s record high of 55,892. Although comparisons with the outset of the pandemic are difficult given that testing was limited in the spring, the U.K. has recorded its four highest daily new infection numbers over the past four days all above 50,000 and around double the daily number of a few we