Devastating report lays bare impact of Covid on NHS staff including running out of body bags, sick patients raining from the sky' and hospitals close to collapse
The harrowing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on patients and NHS staff has been laid bare in a new report.The Covid-19 Inquiry found staff were, at times, running out of body bags as sick patients 'rained from the sky'.Professor Kevin Fong, former national clinical adviser in emergency preparedness, resilience and response at NHS England, told the probe that the scale of death on intensive care units was 'truly astounding' and how one hospital he visited was close to collapse.Former chief nursing officer Dame Ruth May described how the NHS went into the pandemic with 40,000 fewer nurses than it needed.Nurses who would usually treat a single patient in critical care found themselves looking after as many as six patients at once.Former health secretary Matt Hancock told the inquiry that England's hospitals were within 'hours' of running out of some items of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early months of the pandemic.He said he 'reluctantly' approved of the decision to pause non-urgent planned care which led to soaring waiting lists.Chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty, who became a household name with his daily televised updates, said officials didn't make it clear enough that the seriously ill should still go to hospital. Hospitals were within hours of running out of PPE, the inquiry heard
However, he said the UK faced an 'absolutely catastrophic situation' as it headed towards the first Covid lockdown and there were very serious concerns about how the NHS would cope.Critics of lockdowns have pointed to the numbers of people who died from non-Covid conditions which may have been treatable, but where the person stayed at home or could not access normal NHS care.It comes as the Government announced plans to give people stronger rights for hospital and care home visits.Care minister Stephen Kinnock said: 'No one should be separated from their loved ones unnecessarily. Contact with family and friends should not be seen as a luxury but a basic part of good care.'These changes will protect patients and residents, give families a stronger voice, and help make sure care is more compassionate, open and humane.'Today's report marks the conclusion of the third of ten Covid Inquiry modules.The inquiry is set to be one of the longest in history, and has already overtaken the Bloody Sunday probe to be the most expensive, costing more than £192 million in three years.
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Devastating report lays bare impact of Covid on NHS staff including running out of body bags, sick patients raining from the sky' and hospitals close to collapse
