The government has released their official strategy should the spread of coronavirus intensify, which includes putting retired health professionals back into duty to help a struggling NHS.

Emergency registration will be available for health professionals who have recently left practice so they can be brought in to help contain the infection and administer diagnostic tests.

“Any emergency legislation introducing such measures would need to be carefully scrutinised” Susan Masters

Prime minister Boris Johnson said that the government will also introduce emergency indemnity coverage for health professionals working through the crisis.

The four stages of the strategy are contain, delay, research and mitigate. Should the UK advance from the current contain stage it will enter the delay stage.

The plans stated: “Based on experience with previous outbreaks, it may be that widespread exposure in the UK is inevitable; but slowing it down would still nonetheless be beneficial.

“At all phases of a potential future pandemic, the NHS/Health and Social Care Northern Ireland and local authorities have plans in place to ensure people receive the essential care and support services they need.”

If the virus reaches the mitigate stage, when NHS staffing becomes affected by the virus, a different approach to hospital admissions will be introduced.

Non-urgent care may have to be delayed to prioritise coronavirus and retired nurses and other health professionals will be brought back into duty.

“The plan does not set out what the government will do; it sets out the things we could do at the right time” Boris Johnson

Susan Masters, director of nursing, practice and policy at the Royal College of Nursing, said that retired nurses have a “wealth of knowledge and experience” they could bring in the event of an outbreak.

“With the right safety measures and regulation, they could provide important support for nurses currently working in the NHS,” she added.

“But senior nurses already spend a great deal of time supervising and mentoring more junior colleagues and nursing students, so the issue will be whether they have the capacity to extend this to returning retired staff.”

In the Nursing Times’s winter pressures survey, 47% of more than 1,000 nurses said they felt unprepared for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a separate survey from the Doctor’s Association UK found that more than 99% of 1,618 doctors agreed that the NHS was not prepared for a major outbreak.

Ms Masters said: “Any emergency legislation introducing such measures would need to be carefully scrutinised to ensure safety for patients and healthcare staff is the priority.

“There are already well-rehearsed plans in place to deal with infectious diseases like coronavirus, but the health and care system is challenged by the current high level of nursing vacancies.”

Current nursing vacancies across the UK stand at more than 43,000 unfilled posts.

At today’s Downing Street briefing, Mr Johnson said: “Our country remains extremely well prepared as it has been since the outbreak in Wuhan several months ago.

“The plan does not set out what the government will do; it sets out the things we could do at the right time and on the basis of scientific advice.”

He added that it was “important” for the public to understand that it is necessary to have some emergency powers legislation in place.

He noted that these laws would be an exception for the short term response and are not intended to last beyond the outbreak.