英语学习 BBC UK News(2022.03.30)

Rules on free lateral flow and PCR Covid tests published

Free Covid tests will still be available for some groups, including NHS staff caring directly for patients, the government has confirmed as it winds down the service for the public.

From 1 April, most people will have to pay for a lateral flow test in England.

It is part of the government’s ‘living with Covid’ plan, although levels of the virus are high, with an estimated one in 16 people infected in the UK.

Some free testing will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In Wales the cut-off is July.

Where can I buy a lateral flow test?
UK Covid infections climb by a million in a week
The general public has been discouraged from stockpiling test packs ahead of the change, but since ministers announced the end of the free testing programme for most of the population it has been difficult for many to access them.

The government says the end of universal free testing is possible because vaccines, along with antiviral drugs, are doing a good job of protecting people against severe Covid.

Although infections and hospitalisations with the virus have been rising in recent weeks, more than half of the patients in hospital who test positive are there for something else, rather than Covid.

Testing can be ramped up again should it be needed, such as if a new variant of concern emerges, the government says.

The new rules say that from 1 April in England, free testing will be provided for:

Patients in hospital, where a PCR test is required for their care
People who are eligible for community Covid drug treatments because they are at higher risk of getting seriously ill if they become infected. People in this group will be contacted directly and sent lateral flow tests to keep at home for use if they have symptoms, as well as being told how to reorder tests
Care home residents
People working in some high-risk settings, including care homes and prisons. These staff will be able to test regularly, without symptoms
People will also be tested before being discharged from hospital into care homes, hospices and refuges.

But most visitors to adult social care settings, and visitors to the NHS, prisons or places of detention will not be required to take a test.

Anyone who tests positive - whether they paid for a test or it was free - will be advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days, which is when they are most infectious.

Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home. They can go back to nursery, school or college when they feel well enough and the fever has gone.

Dame Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: "As we learn to live with Covid, we are focusing our testing provision on those at higher risk of serious outcomes from the virus, while encouraging people to keep following simple steps to help keep themselves and others safe.

"The pandemic is not over and how the virus will develop over time remains uncertain.

"Covid still poses a real risk to many of us, particularly with case rates and hospitalisations on the rise.

“That is why it is sensible to wear a mask in enclosed spaces, keep indoor spaces ventilated and stay away from others if you have any symptoms of a respiratory illness, including Covid.”

The government also confirmed some other changes from 1 April:

free parking for NHS staff introduced during the pandemic will end
visiting restrictions in care homes with outbreaks will be reduced from 14 to 10 days

Public satisfaction with NHS drops to 25-year low

Public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped to its lowest level for 25 years after a sharp fall during the pandemic, a survey suggests.

The British Social Attitudes poll, seen as the gold standard measure of public opinion, found 36% of the 3,100 asked were satisfied in 2021.

That is a drop from 53% the year before - the largest fall in a single year.

Only once have satisfaction levels been lower since the poll started in 1983.

That was in 1997, and shortly after that the Blair government started increasing the budget by record amounts.

NHS waiting-list backlog will take years to clear
Hospital waiting lists hit six million in England
The public said it was taking too long to get a GP appointment or hospital care, and there was not enough staff.

The fall in satisfaction was widespread across all age groups and income groups, with political party support having no bearing. More people - 41% - said they were dissatisfied than satisfied.

Satisfaction in social care, which is run by councils, was even lower - just 15% said they were satisfied - with more than half dissatisfied.

The findings of the survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research in England, Scotland and Wales last autumn, have been published by the Nuffield Trust and King’s Fund think-tanks.

Findings ‘extraordinary’
Dan Wellings, senior fellow at the King’s Fund, described them as “extraordinary”.

He said the NHS initially saw a “halo” effect early on in the pandemic, with satisfaction rates being maintained as the NHS battled through the first wave. But he said it was clear that had now gone.

“People are often struggling to get the care they need. These issues have been exacerbated by the extraordinary events of the past two years, but have been many years in the making following a decade-long funding squeeze, and a workforce crisis that has been left unaddressed for far too long.”

It comes as record numbers of people are waiting for hospital treatment - in England more than six million people are on a waiting list.

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, said the sharp drop in satisfaction was a “real concern”, but was not “altogether surprising” given the pressures posed by the pandemic.

She said tackling staffing shortages was key to addressing the problems.

England, Wales and Scotland have all published Covid recovery plans, promising to reduce waiting times in the coming years.

Ministers have pointed to the extra investment in the health service, with some of the extra money being funded through the increase in national insurance contributions which kicks in next month.

Covid: Free parking for NHS hospital staff in England to end this week

Free parking for NHS hospital staff in England introduced as a result of the pandemic will end on Friday, the government says.

Parking fees were waived in March 2020, but Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the pandemic had moved to a new stage.

He said over 93% of NHS trusts charging for parking have implemented free parking “for those in greatest need”, including NHS staff working overnight.

However, unions have criticised the move as punishing struggling staff.

Announcing the removal of the benefit, the government said it was “delivering on our manifesto commitment to provide free hospital car parking to thousands more NHS patients and visitors”.

The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto promised to make parking free for those in greatest need including “disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders and staff working night shifts”.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that the broader policy was temporary and had been introduced “for the duration of the pandemic”.

It added that running the scheme had cost around £130 million over nearly two years.

In a written statement, Mr Javid added: “On behalf of the government, I would like to record my thanks to everyone who has worked tirelessly to keep people safe over the last two years and whose efforts have enabled us to move to the next stage of the Covid-19 response.”

‘Hard-up workers’
The policy was originally announced in March 2020 after more than 400,000 people signed a petition calling for free parking for NHS workers.

Rachel Harrison, national officer for the GMB union, described charging healthcare staff for parking as a “a sick joke”, after they “risked their lives during the pandemic”.

A freedom of information request made by the union previously found that staff were paying up to £1,300 a year to park at work.

She told the PA news agency: "After the years of Tory cuts NHS trusts are struggling, we know. But scrabbling the money back off hard-up workers is not the answer.

“The government must now legislate for free hospital staff parking once and for all.”

Hospital parking fees in Wales scrapped
All hospital car parking charges to be scrapped in Scotland
Free NI hospital car parking ends after £6m spend
Echoing these comments, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said scrapping free parking in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis is a “lousy way to repay” staff who had “put their lives on the line to get us through this pandemic”.

"The government should be giving health staff a proper pay rise - not adding to their bills.

“And it should be funding our NHS properly so that hospitals don’t have to rely on car parks for income,” she added.

In Scotland, charging for parking at most NHS car parks ended in 2008, while the final costs at three hospitals still charging were scrapped in August last year.

Parking at all NHS hospitals in Wales has been free since 2018.

In Northern Ireland, free parking and free public transport for healthcare workers during the pandemic ended in August last year.

Nurses and other NHS workers in England were offered a 3% pay rise by government “in recognition of unique impact of the pandemic” on staff last year.