The chair of the UK Covid-19 inquiry has today published the inquiry’s module 3 report, which examined the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the four nations of the UK.
The chair emphasises
“the unbearable stress and distress to patients, their loved ones and the healthcare workers looking after them.”
She pays tribute to the extraordinary efforts of all those working in the healthcare systems across the UK. I too recognise the loss and pain people experienced during the pandemic, and the extraordinary efforts of health workers across the four nations. The disruption and effects of covid-19 on our society were profound, and its effects were particularly felt through the health and social care system.
The chair has found that the UK entered the pandemic ill-prepared and with highly stretched healthcare systems, and that the impact of the pandemic on the healthcare systems of the UK was devastating. The chair concludes that the UK needs better pre-pandemic planning. She recommends measures to strengthen national preparedness for future pandemics, with clear accountability for the provision of guidance on infection prevention and control, an ethical framework for resource allocation, improved data systems for risk stratification, and tested plans to rapidly scale hospital and urgent and emergency care capacity. She also recommends measures to protect patients and health workers, including guidance on visiting restrictions, standardised advance care planning, transparent reporting of health worker deaths, better preparation for FFP3 mask fit-testing, and psychological and emotional support for healthcare staff.
This Government are committed to learning the lessons from the inquiry and ensuring the NHS and the social care sector are prepared for a future pandemic. We will work with our colleagues in the devolved Governments as we carefully consider the recommendations in the report. It is clear that the NHS and the social care sector remain under pressure across the UK, and in many cases healthcare services are still recovering from the pandemic. This Government are committed to investment and reform to build a health service in England that is fit for the future and there for people when they need it.
I would like to thank Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on this report. The Government will carefully consider all the findings and recommendations of the report and respond in due course.
I have laid a copy of the report before both Houses of Parliament.
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