ACP-UK members work in frontline NHS services, in mental health, acute physical health hospital and community settings and primary healthcare. We have been providing psychological and mental health support for hospital consultants and senior managers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We therefore have extensive and intimate knowledge of the present state of NHS services and clinical staff.

It is clear to us that the NHS is under enormous strain and is at breaking point, and this is being underplayed by the government.

We now join the BMA and other healthcare groups in calling for the immediate re-introduction of measures to maintain public health such as increased home working and mandatory mask wearing on public transport and in other indoor spaces. We confirm that there is an urgent need to strengthen and support services to help NHS staff and the population as a whole cope with the severe psychological stress created by the pandemic. The government’s present approach is once again, insufficiently responsive to the present circumstances and risks being too late in acting, putting many lives at risk.