Superhuman' healthcare workers saved NHS from collapse, Covid inquiry finds

"Healthcare systems coped with the pandemic, but only just. On a number of occasions, they teetered on the brink of collapse and only coped thanks to the almost superhuman efforts of healthcare workers and all the staff who support them. Workers carried the burden of caring for the sick in unprecedented numbers. They were obliged to work under intolerable pressure for months on end."

"The NHS entered the pandemic with low bed numbers, high numbers of staff vacancies and high bed occupancy, meaning it was already in a precarious position and ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic. There was not enough PPE at the start of the pandemic, meaning healthcare workers had to put themselves and their families at risk to care for patients."

"There was clearly overwhelm. Patients could not be admitted to hospital and, in particular, into intensive care units. The pressure was, at times, intolerable. This continued for wave after wave of the virus."

An official Covid-19 inquiry concluded that the NHS barely survived the pandemic due to healthcare workers' superhuman efforts, despite the system being in a precarious state beforehand. The inquiry chair, Lady Hallett, found that the NHS entered the pandemic with insufficient bed capacity, high staff vacancies, and already-high occupancy rates, leaving it ill-prepared for the crisis. Healthcare systems repeatedly teetered on collapse, with patients unable to access hospital and intensive care beds. Politicians, including former health secretary Matt Hancock, refused to acknowledge the NHS was overwhelmed, believing this would signal total collapse. Additional findings revealed inadequate PPE supplies at the pandemic's start, flawed early infection control measures based on incorrect transmission assumptions, and healthcare workers enduring intolerable pressure for extended periods.

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