Responding to the government's 'Living with COVID' announcement, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson said:

"Today the government has set out important decisions on how we should change COVID-19 protection measures and the COVID-19 surveillance and testing regimes, as we move from a pandemic to COVID-19 becoming endemic.

"We are all, trust leaders included, keen to live life with as few restrictions as possible. And trust leaders recognise the significant direct and indirect costs of the current COVID-19 protection regime.

"But, while the vast majority of people who currently catch COVID-19 will recover without any lasting harm, the virus can still prove fatal for the most vulnerable. We still don't fully understand the risks around long COVID. And the last two years have shown that it is impossible to predict how the virus will develop.

"So while we recognise the importance of having a 'Living with COVID' strategy, it would be very premature to see this as signalling a permanent victory over COVID-19.

"We've always said government is best placed to make decisions on what COVID-19 protections are required, given the need to balance factors such as public health needs, economic requirements, restrictions on personal freedom and the public cost of the infrastructure protecting us from the virus.

"Government, alone, also has access to the full range of scientific advice, information and data that must guide these decisions. Given the importance of this particular set of decisions, it's important that this advice should be made publicly available as quickly as possible.

"There are many in the NHS who are concerned about the potential impact of these decisions. It's therefore vital that the government should keep an open mind and be ready, for example, to restore those elements of the testing and surveillance regimes should they be needed.

"The government should assess the impact of its decisions on restricting free testing, as there must be a risk of these significantly exacerbating health inequalities.

"It will also be important that trusts retain the power to make local decisions on infection and prevention control measures to protect their most vulnerable patients, including on face masks and visitor restrictions if necessary. Government needs to continue to make clear that any abuse of NHS staff seeking to ensure public compliance with these decisions is unacceptable."