An NHS boss has admitted that winter will be a "challenging time" for the health sector as emergency plans are being worked on.

Dr Navin Kumta, the chair of the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), says the health body, which was formed in April, must learn the lessons from its initial response to the pandemic.

Health bosses say that if a “second Covid wave” occurs then it must be tackled without the same disruption to key services between March and May which saw GP surgeries shut off to the public and significant shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health staff.

Last night, Kent and Medway CCG's accountable officer, Wilf Williams and Dr Kumta were pressed on the health body's readiness for a tough winter during a virtual meeting of Medway Council's health scrutiny committee.

Gillingham councillor Dan McDonald (Lab), one of the 15 committee members, asked: "How confident are you that the new Kent and Medway CCG structure will be able to respond to winter pressures, along with the EU exit and a possible second wave?"

Medway Council's public health director, James Williams, said local authorities were prepared for potential future spikes but Mr Kumta gave a stark warning and said: "Winter is going to be a challenging time for everybody in the sector."

A "strategic commander" has been appointed to lead the winter planning in Kent as NHS bosses have already reviewed several key improvement areas, including ensuring sufficient bed capacity at Kent hospitals for specialist Covid care.

"Winter is going to be a challenging time for everybody in the sector..."

Greater social distancing measures will likely be imposed in waiting areas and wards of hospitals and more frequent and in-depth cleaning of sites carried out.

Phone and video consultations with GPs are expected to continue while extra help has been pledged for black and ethnic minority groups "disproportionately" affected by the virus. Outbreak control plans are also being implemented.

On Brexit, Mr Williams said that preparations around December's departure are "very well advanced" but concerns were raised by some members about access to medical products across the Channel.

Cllr Theresa Murray, Medway Council's deputy Labour leader, said: "I wonder what work is being done to make sure the European supply chains are going to be protected and kept open should we have a second wave."

This was described as an "ongoing challenge" by Caroline Selkirk, who is the executive director of health improvement at Kent and Medway's CCG, also in attendance of the meeting. But, she said that national "contingencies" were in place.

On winter pressures, Mr Williams said a flu vaccination was being rolled out in England to more than 30 million people aged between 50 and 64.

Concluding, he added: "We are doing everything we can to make sure our services are resilient."

In Whitstable, a 'drive thru' clinic is being set up in a former coronavirus testing site to give as many people the flu jab as possible.

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