Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) has come “close to collapse” during the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows from the conclusions of the public investigation into the circumstances of the pandemic published on Thursday, AFP reported.
In short:
- Britain’s National Health Service has almost completely collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The government slogan “Stay at home” led to the avoidance of even urgent health care
- Delayed visits to doctors caused the deterioration of diagnoses and the health status of many patients
According to the report, the government’s slogan “Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” also sent a signal to citizens that healthcare was unaffordable. As a result, some people avoided going to the emergency room even for life-threatening conditions like heart attacks, or put off seeing a doctor for fear of burdening the system. In some cases, this led to delayed diagnosis and deterioration of the patients’ health.
Report by Heather Hallett
The author of the 387-page report is former judge Heather Hallett, who is leading the investigation into the pandemic.
“We managed it, but just barely. The collapse was averted only thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the paramedics,” said Hallett. The pandemic had far-reaching consequences, she said, including patients “not always receiving the care they needed.”
In the report, it also points to extended waiting times for ambulances, overloading of the 111 health line and restrictions on hospital visits, as a result of which many patients died without the presence of loved ones.
Consequences for the vulnerable
Vulnerable groups, such as patients with dementia, children in psychiatric wards or women using pre- and post-natal care, also had insufficient support.
At the same time, Hallettová states that the employees of medical facilities have exposed themselves to an extraordinary risk due to the lack of suitable personal protective equipment.
The former judge also makes ten recommendations, including strengthening emergency care capacity and improving the infection prevention system. Among them are increasing the capacities of urgent care; strengthening the authority responsible for infection prevention and control guidelines to improve decision-making and guidelines; improving data collection to ensure identification of those most at risk of infection; strengthening the support of healthcare workers to prevent turnover and increase their physical and psychological resilience.
Continuation of the investigation
The next phase of the pandemic investigation – the fourth of a total of eleven – will focus on the development of vaccines and their introduction.
The United Kingdom was among the European countries most affected by COVID-19. Between 19 March 2020 and May 2023, when the World Health Organization ended the global health emergency, there were more than 227,000 deaths linked to the disease in Britain.
