Our members have been at the centre of NHS efforts to respond to the pandemic. Now that we are in the second wave , we are working with them to understand and respond to the current and future challenges they face.

Our work is now focused on

• supporting our members with advice and guidance 

• planning for future COVID-19 waves 

• rebuilding the NHS. 

The NHS is currently dealing with the realities of a second peak coupled with the pressures of a normal winter flu season. We are dedicated to helping our members manage that pressure and have recently produced 

• ward rounds and patient assessment during COVID-19 to help ward based teams conduct multidisciplinary assessments safely 

• doctors returning to the workforce: guidance for hospitals to help them make the most of the 28,000 doctors who have returned to help. 

The RCP is in close communication with the government and the NHS, regularly telling them how the pandemic is affecting our members. We have also set out nine priorities for the resetting and rebuilding of NHS service and six priorities for future COVID-19 wave planning. 

We need to do things differently in the future to embed improvements and tackle health inequalities. Priorities include improving the design of services such as outpatients, tackling our ongoing workforce challenges and protected time for clinicians to engage in quality improvement, service redesign and research.