Covid Inquiry Told Treasury Blocked Nhs Bed Request

Boris Johnson’s authorities blocked a petition to money different 10,000 infirmary beds astatine nan tallness of nan Covid pandemic, nan main executive of NHS England has said.

Amanda Pritchard told nan UK Covid-19 Inquiry nan decision, made by nan Treasury successful July 2020, had been “very disappointing”.

Extra beds and unit would person been utilized to trim waiting lists for planned attraction and “build resilience” going into a 2nd wintertime activity of nan pandemic, she said.

The authorities has said it cannot remark while nan enquiry is successful progress.

Health ministers from nan clip are expected to springiness grounds later this month, to nan 3rd conception of nan inquiry, looking astatine Covid's effect connected nan NHS and healthcare systems crossed nan UK.

Ms Pritchard served arsenic NHS England’s main operating serviceman from 2019 until she was promoted to main executive, successful August 2021.

In her evidence, she said a petition had been made to nan government, for 10,000 other permanent, staffed infirmary beds, successful July 2020.

The request had been based connected modelling nan dispersed of nan virus, on pinch nan request to woody pinch different pressures that coming wintertime and resume much planned, aliases elective, room and different treatments for non-Covid patients.

But nan enquiry heard nan Treasury and nan premier minister’s backstage agency had refused nan request, saying they wanted much usage made of impermanent Nightingale hospitals on pinch nan backstage sector.

And Ms Prichard had been told nan determination would beryllium looked astatine again arsenic portion of a wider spending reappraisal expected successful nan autumn of 2021.

She called nan determination “very disappointing”, saying waiting lists for planned NHS curen successful England would beryllium successful “quite a different position” coming had nan other backing been agreed.

“If we had had that capacity, we could surely person treated thousands much patients… arsenic good arsenic being much resilient going into nan 2nd activity of nan pandemic and into wintertime much generally,” Ms Prichard said.

In nan summertime of 2020, nan NHS successful England had a full imperishable furniture capacity to dainty astir 95,000 patients successful acute hospitals.

That was accrued by different 4,000 from wintertime 2023, nether a betterment scheme agreed by past Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Later successful her evidence, Ms Pritchard said nan wellness work had faced a play of “extreme pressure” successful nan wintertime of 2020-21, arsenic different activity of Covid dispersed crossed nan country.

By that point, caller treatments had been discovered, including nan inexpensive steroid dexamethasone, and nan first Covid vaccines were starting to beryllium rolled retired successful mini numbers.

But nan level of organization transmission astatine nan clip meant immoderate intensive-care units were still being pushed “to nan brink” and were “right connected nan edge” of moving retired of furniture space.

Nationally, nan wellness work had ne'er had to “systematically limit” entree to treatments because hospitals could not header pinch demand, Ms Pritchard said.

“That does not mean, though, that it did not consciousness wholly overwhelming to unit astatine this clip successful those places - and it does not mean that nan benignant of attraction that was being provided was thing for illustration normal,” she added.

Ms Pritchard was besides asked astir nan 7 impermanent Nightingale hospitals built quickly, successful March and April 2020, crossed England to dainty Covid patients.

Data seen by nan enquiry shows nan full costs to nan taxpayer, including mounting up and decommissioning, is now estimated astatine £358.5m.

The hospitals – successful Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Harrogate, London, Manchester and Sunderland – treated 141 Covid patients successful nan first activity of nan microorganism and 1,097 Covid and different patients successful nan 2nd wave.

In total, £50.4m was spent connected 1 site, Birmingham, which was ne'er utilized by patients successful nan pandemic.

The tract successful Bristol besides carried retired 6,554 assessments for patients from nan oculus infirmary successful nan city.

Ms Pritchard told nan enquiry nan programme had still been “useful”, arsenic nan sites had been envisaged arsenic “military section hospitals” astatine nan time.

“We thought we were doing it to debar a bluish Italy situation,” she said, referring to scenes successful Lombardy, wherever intensive-care units had been overwhelmed.