THE trust which runs Basingstoke and Andover hospitals is preparing for a possible second peak of Covid-19 in July, September or November this year.

Papers published as part of Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Board of Directors meeting detail its objectives and goals for 2020/2021.

A timeline shows question marks around a possible second peak of the virus this month, in September or November, and a possible vaccine ready for October this year.

In response to a possible second peak, elective surgery for cancer patients would be reduced again to focus on those with Covid-19.

Screening for cancer patients was resumed by the trust in June when private hospitals, where cancer patients were receiving treatment, were handed back to the private sector.

The report also predicts that there will be an increase for demand for urgent care this month.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, has already warned that a second wave of coronavirus infections in the UK is “quite a possibility”.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference earlier this month, she said the local spike in Covid-19 cases in Leicester was a “very good lesson” for the rest of the country, and she did not rule out further waves of infections across the UK, or even a second peak.

Health leaders also called for an urgent review to ensure Britain is properly prepared for the risk of a second peak, with the appeal backed by the presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Surgeons, GPs and Nursing.

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out an extra £3 billion in funding for the NHS in England.

It will allow Nightingale hospitals to remain open and for private hospital capacity to be used until the end of March.

Ministers hope this will mean hospitals have sufficient capacity to deal with a possible spike in Covid-19 cases during the already trying winter season while allowing routine treatments and procedures to continue.

Mr Johnson also committed to a new target of reaching the capacity for 500,000 coronavirus tests per day by November in order to distinguish between flu and Covid-19 symptoms, and to rolling out the “biggest ever flu vaccination programme”.

His pledges come after a report commissioned by Sir Patrick, his top scientific adviser, warned there could be 120,000 hospital deaths in a “reasonable worst-case scenario”.