Health Committee: COVID-19
Channel: London Assembly
Date: 13/01/2022

COVID-19 continues to pose an enormous challenge for London. The Omicron variant has caused a surge of cases in the capital and the knock-on effect of staff absences in public services has led to military personnel deployed to support NHS hospitals in the city.

Successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme has been key to the Government’s response to the pandemic, yet London’s vaccination rates remain lower than the national average.

Watch the London Assembly Health Committee examine the ongoing risk from COVID-19 to London and the latest data, focusing on vaccine uptake, sickness absence, and numbers of cases and deaths.

The Committee also looks at the impact of the pandemic on waiting times for elective and outpatient treatment and the implications of this for Londoners’ health.

Part 1 – The current situation in London

The guests are:

Professor Kevin Fenton CBE, Regional Director for London, Office of Health Improvement and Disparities, Statutory Health Advisor to the GLA
Martin Machray, Executive Director of Performance/COVID-19 Incident Director, NHS England and NHS Improvement – London
Daniel Elkeles, Chief Executive, London Ambulance Service
Part 2 – The indirect health effects of the pandemic: the impact on waiting times for elective and outpatient treatment

The guests are:

Martin Machray, Executive Director of Performance/COVID-19 Incident Director, NHS England and NHS Improvement – London
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, Chair of Council, British Medical Association
Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst, The Kings Fund
Emma Tingley, Head of Partnerships, Macmillan Cancer Support