COVID-19 blog
As key COVID updates become more frequent, we will be updating this page on a regular basis.
04/02/2021
Podcast: Talking Heads – Safeguarding employee health and wellness
Lucie McGrath leads an interview with Cliff Bucknall, the Chief Medical Officer for HCA UK, and Claire Dunsterville, Director of Rehabilitation Services at The Wellington Hospital in London. They discuss the impacts of COVID-19, ‘Long COVID’ and the UK vaccination programme on overall health & wellbeing for individuals and employers.
19/01/2021
Mitigate pricing uncertainty
Group Risk rates look set to rise as a result of the current economic, environmental and market conditions, across a range of employee benefits. Businesses face uncertainty with the future pricing of their risk benefits policies. With more focus and a strain on cashflow and budgeting, now could be the time to seek out an alternative solution to mitigate both short and long term increases and lock in a new deal for an extended guarantee period. Talk to us now about our new and improved Enhanced Terms Agreement, only available to Willis Towers Watson clients up to 500 lives.
06/01/2021
Hospital availability
The percentage of private hospitals classed as “fully open for all services” has dropped from 86% on 18th December to 59% in early 2021 due to additional support being offered to the NHS.
10/12/2020
Approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
Following approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for use in the UK last week, the NHS has begun phase one of a national vaccination programme, which aims to immunise 40% of the UK population. At the moment, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is the only vaccination approved for use in the UK and it is not available outside of the central NHS distribution programme. Due to storage requirements and current batch size, the programme is being delivered from a limited number of hospital hubs across the UK, prioritising older people and those who are classed as vulnerable.
25/11/2020
COVID-19 Rapid Antigen testing – use outside of clinical settings
Following recent government pilots in England of rapid antigen testing, there are a number of providers now offering private rapid testing services for employers. Public Health England (PHE) guidance relating to rapid antigen testing in the community remains unchanged at the present time, meaning this type of test is only recommended in clinical or care home settings. PHE are currently assessing three rapid antigen tests for use in community settings and are expected to update their position soon.
