Day: 17 October 2020

by Professor Karol Sikora Date: May 18th 2020 Purpose This briefing note sets out a proposal for how the Independent Sector can support the recovery of NHS cancer services in England to pre-pandemic levels. Background As infection and mortality rates start to decline, the NHS has entered its second phase response to COVID-19. Continued vigilance is required to mitigate the risk of a second outbreak. Recently announced cancer metrics demonstrate a significant reduction in the number of consultant referrals, and new patients taking up radiotherapy and systemic anti-cancer therapies (SACT) is minimal. There is an urgency to restore cancer services to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible, to minimise the potential harm caused by the current disruption to services. Additional capacity is also needed to handle the backlog of patients and to get the NHS back on track to delivering the ambitions of the Long-Term Plan. However, service planning needs to remain vigilant of the risks of a 2nd wave and ensure that services are delivered safely. The Issues There are a broad range of issues to be addressed: Referrals Patients are choosing not to present at their GPs due to a fear of exposure to infection. This will result in a delay of patients entering the system for diagnosis. They need to be assured that their concerns about symptoms ...

"SAGE is Like a Golfer With a One-Club Strategy" – IDS Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP has penned a withering attack on SAGE in the Telegraph, targeting its catastrophically one-dimensional handling of the pandemic. In the midst of this sits the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). The normal run of affairs is that advisors advise and ministers decide. Yet with Sage it is different. Though it is a public body, it is one which the like of I have never previously come across.So much of the advice influencing policy that has changed our lives and livelihoods has come has come from this opaque organisation, which operates behind closed doors and whose members were only officially identified in May after a very public clamour for transparency.Appointments to it of an estimated 100 scientists and academics appear to be made by the Chief Scientific Officer and the Chief Medical Officer alone. And yet its "advice" has taken on the character of commandments written on tablets of stone – despite the fact that many of its recommendations are hotly disputed by other reputable scientists with relevant expertise. Meanwhile, when the government does not follow its advice exactly, it immediately publishes its minutes, in what appears to be a nakedly political act.The search for a way to control the virus without severely damaging ...