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At the start of the third stage of the Covid public inquiry, which is investigating healthcare during the pandemic, lawyers claimed that the NHS was already “creaking at the seams” before the virus arrived. The inquiry is investigating the state of the healthcare system prior to the pandemic and how it managed during the outbreak. Lawyers stated that the NHS was understaffed and didn’t have enough beds, which resulted in non-Covid care being cancelled on a large scale. They also suggested that severely ill Covid patients could not receive the care they needed as a result.
Critics condemned the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group for failing to call more than two of their proposed 23 witnesses, claiming that this module of the inquiry would be “one of the most distressing” for bereaved families and medical professionals. More than fifty witnesses are expected to testify during the next ten weeks of the hearings, with medical experts, NHS staff and advisors appearing to discuss issues such as diagnosis, treatment of patients, infection control measures and hospital shielding.
During the proceedings, lead counsel Jacqueline Carey KC described this stage of the inquiry as “broad and ambitious”. She revealed that a study carried out for the inquiry found that more than half of the health professionals surveyed – of a total of 1,700 – claimed that at times severely ill Covid patients could not receive the care they needed. Carey stated that this presented an image of a healthcare system that was “creaking at the seams” and made significantly difficult decisions.
It was also noted how the need to free up capacity for Covid patients indirectly caused harm to other patients who needed hospital treatment but for whom non-emergency medical attention had been suspended. This included hip and knee replacements being halted, which in some instances have resulted in missed cancer diagnoses and people dying in the community instead of being admitted to hospital. The inquiry will continue until December, and nine separate reports are anticipated.
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