Government rejects MPs call for a broad health and care recovery plan

The UK government has rejected calls by MPs on the Commons health and social care committee for a broad national health and care recovery plan to tackle the backlog caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Ministers have also failed to back publication of an annual independent assessment of workforce numbers, prompting criticism by committee chair Jeremy Hunt, a former Conservative health secretary.

Hunt said that, although some government measures were laudable, an overarching plan was needed that went beyond tackling the backlog in elective treatment and included vital services in emergency care, mental health, and community care, on which people depended. “In rejecting our recommendation, ministers have missed an opportunity to set out a comprehensive plan of the role these services …