UK Edition
Hospital chiefs and university vice-chancellors have been threatened with government action unless they get back to normal after the pandemic, The Telegraph can disclose.
Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, and Michelle Donelan, the Universities Minister, have respectively told NHS trusts to drop restrictions in hospitals which are limiting operational capacity, and return to face-to-face teaching.
The Health Secretary is also threatening to name and shame NHS trusts that do not heed his warnings to ease the measures, which were relaxed last month.
It comes after Jacob Rees Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities, carried out spot checks on Whitehall offices in a push to get civil servants back to the office.
Mr Rees Mogg, whose brief includes government efficiency, also presented a league table to Cabinet showing the government departments with the fewest staff working from the office.
In the latest effort to return the country to a pre-pandemic footing, Mr Javid issued a warning to NHS trusts ignoring government rules on infection control procedures.
The guidelines were significantly relaxed last month in an effort to free up more capacity to tackle record waiting lists - which topped 6.2 million in February.
The Health Secretary’s intervention comes after The Telegraph previously revealed hospitals were continuing to restrict families from visiting patients, against official guidance issued in March.
As of this week, University Hospitals Birmingham still has all routine visits suspended, except in extreme circumstances such as end-of-life care.
Meanwhile, the Universities Minister has vowed to “put boots on the ground” at university campuses to investigate institutions where students have complained about a lack of face-to-face teaching.
Writing for The Telegraph website she said: “It is time for the stubborn minority to look at the rest of the country, look at themselves, and do the right thing. If they don’t, they will soon have much bigger problems to deal with.”
Her warning comes after complaints about university courses were at the highest level on record last year, with some reporting technology issues during online exams.
Students also "complained about lack of access to laboratories, cancelled or changed projects, placements and study abroad opportunities", according to a report by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA).
The OIA received 2,763 complaints from students in 2021, an increase of 6 per cent on 2020 levels.
Ms Donelan said it is her “duty” to call out universities “who refuse to keep pace with the rest of the country” as we learn to live with the virus.
She said she has been “personally calling vice-chancellors” of universities failing to offer in-person classes to remind them of their responsibility to students.
Students “deserve better”, she said, and warned that universities could face “severe consequences, including fines”, if they fail to act.
Under new guidance, issued by the Department of Health and Social Care and UK Health Security Agency last month, social distancing in hospitals, including emergency departments, ambulances and outpatients settings, should have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The isolation period of Covid-19 patients in hospitals was also reduced from 10 days to seven with two negative tests, while patients considered contacts of Covid-19 cases no longer have to isolate if they have no symptoms.
But, a senior Government source said some trusts are not following the measures.
“The Health Secretary thinks this is completely unacceptable – not only does it restrict capacity but it ignores the fact that patients need to see loved ones, and loved ones need to see patients,” the source said.
They added that the guidance had been developed based on the latest data and there was “no reason for it to not be followed”.
Mr Javid has already raised the issue with trust chief executives but will call those not lifting restrictions to remind them to do so, it is understood.
But Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said hospital leaders are “committed to doing everything they can to recover their services”.
“Suggesting that hardworking NHS staff are wilfully ignoring national guidance is wrong and completely overlooks the complex management of risk they face day-in, day-out,” he said.
There is a 'stubborn minority' of universities that refuses to return to normal
By Michelle Donelan, Minister for Universities
It is no exaggeration to say that the UK has led the world in returning to normal following the pandemic.
The reason we have so successfully learned to live with COVID is not just because of Government action, but because we allowed the British people to exercise common sense to protect themselves while returning to their normal lives.
So we should all now be enjoying the freedoms that are possible – no one group should be on a different track especially not our students who have sacrificed so much over the last two years.
This is why I feel it is my duty to call out the stubborn minority of universities who refuse to keep pace with the rest of the country.
Since January, I have been personally calling vice-chancellors where we have received complaints from parents and students about universities not offering face-to-face teaching, as well as publicly making my expectations clear.
Thankfully, the majority of students are now receiving a comparable amount of face to face teaching to before the pandemic.
Regrettably though, a stubborn minority of universities have put themselves on an entirely different track to the rest of us when it comes to returning to normal - whether that is face to face teaching or events.
One example is of Imperial College London – which served as a hub of COVID science – it recently refused to allow parents to attend their children’s graduation ceremonies last month, despite the fact that COVID restrictions had been fully lifted by then.
Other universities are producing increasingly vague explanations on why they will not return to the full in-person teaching experience their students deserve.
All of this in a year when we have got more 18-year-olds from disadvantaged students going to university than ever before.
I ask myself as someone who did not come from a university family, would I be where I am today if my university had blocked me from all the things that made student life such an enriching experience? I very much doubt it.
Students deserve better, and frankly, the British people – who have quietly driven forward with the return to normal in their own lives – deserve better.
It literally doesn’t make any sense – students and lectures are going to the pub, to the cinema, to dinner and parties so why can’t lectures be in person?
The Competition & Markets Authority is clear that universities must provide prospective students with proper information about their courses.
I have written to universities to make clear that they need to be honest about how courses will be taught and in my view, whether or not the teaching is face to face is vitally important.
I will not hesitate to ask the CMA to investigate any universities that are failing in their duty to be clear.
I have also told the Office for Students to put ‘boots on the ground’ and investigate universities where there are concerns over the face to face provision being given.
Vice chancellors should be in no doubt that if investigated, their universities could face severe consequences, including fines.
This is not about cracking down on those universities utilising technology to enhance student learning such as delivering a lecture face to face and recording it for students to rewatch for revision.
I do, however, draw the line at online learning being used for the university’s convenience against the interests of their students. Saving money, bonkers zero-Covid strategies or sheer convenience are not valid reasons to cut face to face teaching.
It is time for the stubborn minority to look at the rest of the country, look at themselves, and do the right thing. If they don’t, they will soon have much bigger problems to deal with.