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Superhuman efforts of staff saved Welsh NHS from collapse - inquiry
The inquiry found NHS shortages, flawed messaging, and tough visiting rules worsened the crisis; waiting lists hit record highs with 7.77 million treatments delayed, officials said.
- On Thursday, the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry, led by Baroness Heather Hallett, concluded the NHS "teetered on the brink of total collapse" during the pandemic, surviving only through the "extraordinary efforts of all those working in healthcare across the UK."
- Healthcare systems entered the pandemic "ill-prepared" and in a "parlous state," the inquiry found, following a decade of funding squeezes that left the NHS with low bed numbers, severe workforce shortages, and high occupancy rates.
- Government messaging urging the public to "Stay at home" during the pandemic inadvertently "sent the message that healthcare was closed," the inquiry concluded, deterring many from seeking care for life-threatening emergencies like heart attacks.
- Former health secretary Matt Hancock disputed that the NHS was "overwhelmed," viewing the term as semantics, though Hallett maintained the system faced "intolerable strain."
- Baroness Hallett warned that without implementing 10 recommendations for increased surge capacity and staff support, the government may lack a workforce "able or willing" to endure another pandemic.
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NHS came close to collapse during Covid, inquiry finds
Amid pressure on the Government to act quickly to stop the meningitis outbreak spreading, the Covid-19 Inquiry published its report into how the pandemic was handled by healthcare systems across the UK. It found they were ill-prepared, overstretched and came close to collapse.
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources20
Leaning Left6Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 33%
R 17%
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