On 31 July, plans for the next – third – phase of the NHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic, effective from 1 August 2020, were set out in a letter from the Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens & Chief Operating Officer Amanda Pritchard; this includes providers of community services.

The Government has agreed that the NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) incident level will move from Level 4 (national) to Level 3 (regional) with effect from 1 August. This approach matches the differential regional measures the Government is deploying and builds on the guidance set out in the COVID-19 restoration of community health services for children and young people: second phase of NHS response to “fully restore [the health visiting] service, with some prioritisation where indicated and as capacity dictates”.

The priorities for this phase are:

1. Accelerating the return to near-normal levels of non-Covid health services, making full use of the capacity available in the ‘window of opportunity’ between now and winter
2. Preparation for winter demand pressures, alongside continuing vigilance in the light of further probable Covid spikes locally and possibly nationally.
3. Doing the above in a way that takes account of lessons learned during the first Covid peak; locks in beneficial changes; and explicitly tackles fundamental challenges including: support for our staff, and action on inequalities and prevention.