Revealed: NHSE tenders for overseas inspiration on covid-19 recovery

NHS England health chiefs have procured an analysis of at least eight other countries’ covid-19 recovery strategies, which must “rapidly inform the covid-19 recovery strategies of NHSE and the NHS more widely”, according to a tender published last week.

The review, which NHSE commissioned last Friday, must focus on how the countries are addressing elective care backlogs, workforce challenges, positive changes introduced during the pandemic, and the “future resilience” of the health system. It will also examine “recent analysis and insights on key elements of recovery strategies in comparable countries” and build on “previous analysis of international system recovery, particularly [a] 2020 report by the Nuffield Trust”.

The selected countries whose pandemic response will be analysed are: the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Canada. However, NHSE also wants “wider context” from other countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

NHSE will pay up to £46,000 for the review. HSJ has asked which organisation or organisations have been selected to carry out the review, but NHSE has so far not answered.

It comes as the NHS’ waiting list for elective care has risen beyond five million, while staff report feeling stressed and exhausted after 15 months of working in a pandemic.

Norway entered a state of lockdown early in March 2020 and has only reported 789 covid-19 deaths, while Sweden — which was one of the few countries in Europe to decide against a lockdown during the pandemic — has reported slighty more than 14,500 deaths.

Both Italy and Spain’s health systems were overwhelmed during the pandemic, with reports of some hospitals running out of intensive care unit beds. Germany won plaudits for its testing infrastructure at the start of the pandemic but struggled to bring infections down in 2021 until last month.

The organisation selected to deliver the review must produce an initial “desk-based analysis” by the end of June, before running virtual round tables with healthcare leaders, commissioners, insurers, ministries and other experts from each country.

NHSE will then have the opportunity to hold follow-up interviews with officials from other countries to “probe key themes and case studies”.

The full report, which will be published, is expected by “early autumn”.

NHSE was approached for comment.