Collaboration between services essential in responding to pandemic

The response of the people involved in the delivery of health and social care has been impressive and we now need to reflect and learn from the early stages of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Ian Trenholm has said.

Introducing the second of our regular coronavirus insight reports, which is published today, the CQC chief executive said collaboration between services is integral to meeting people’s needs.

"In the space of a few short months, the coronavirus pandemic has placed the severest of challenges on the whole health and care system in England," Mr Trenholm said. "A crisis so widespread and fast in its impact was always going to test the resilience and responsiveness of the system like never before.​ We have seen health and care staff demonstrating resilience in the face of unprecedented pressures, and adapting quickly to work in different ways to keep people safe.

"As we move beyond the initial peak of the outbreak and a significant reduction in the number of deaths from COVID, CQC has an important role – working with others – to bring together the insight we have gathered on the pressures that services and local systems have faced and the efforts that have been made to tackle them."

This month’s report focuses on the closer working– between hospitals, primary care, social care and community services – that needs to be supported and built on, and includes three case studies of where this has been done well.

Mr Trenholm said, "We want to highlight the importance of collaboration between services as integral to meeting people’s needs, and stress how vital it is that positive transformational changes are not lost; that efforts to improve system working become widespread."