Covid Was Like A Daily Terror Attack, Doctor Tells Inquiry

Treating patients during nan pandemic was for illustration responding to a regular panic attack, nan Covid enquiry has heard.

Giving testimony, Professor Kevin Fong, said of unit he met during a infirmary sojourn being successful "total bits".

The erstwhile nationalist objective advisor successful emergency preparedness astatine NHS England recalled a speech pinch an intensive attraction expert during a sojourn successful December 2020.

“I asked him instantly what things had been for illustration and… I’ll ne'er forget, he replied it’s been for illustration a violent onslaught each time since it started, and we don’t cognize erstwhile nan attacks are going to stop.”

Prof Fong described Covid arsenic nan “biggest nationalist emergency this state has faced since World War Two”, and many times collapsed down successful tears connected nan guidelines while describing what he had seen and his conversations pinch different unit members.

During nan pandemic, Prof Fong, a advisor anaesthetist, conducted astir 40 visits of nan "hardest hit" intensive attraction units connected behalf of NHS England to connection adjacent support to nan doctors and nurses moving there.

He wrote reports which were sent backmost to elder managers including England’s main aesculapian serviceman Prof Sir Chris Whitty.

He said nan “scale of death” was “very difficult to seizure successful nan figures”.

“It was truly, genuinely astounding… We had nurses talking astir patients ‘raining from nan sky’, wherever 1 of nan nurses told maine they sewage tired of putting group successful assemblage bags.”

“We went to different portion wherever things sewage truthful bad they were truthful short of resources, they ran retired of assemblage bags and alternatively were stuck pinch nine-foot clear integrative sacks and cablegram ties.”

“These are group who are utilized to seeing decease but not connected that standard and not for illustration that.”

Prof Fong said that “despite nan champion efforts of everyone successful nan system” nan surge of request for healthcare caused by Covid meant it was “not imaginable to present nan modular of attraction that would ordinarily beryllium expected.”

He described nan business arsenic nan worst he had witnessed: "I was connected nan segment of nan Soho bombing successful 1999, I worked successful nan emergency section during nan 7th July termination bombing pinch nan chopper aesculapian service. And thing I saw during each of those events was arsenic bad arsenic really Covid was each azygous time for each azygous 1 of these hospitals done nan pandemic surges.

“It’s achy now because it was very clear what was happening to nan patients, it was very clear what was happening to nan staff. The unit were very injured by conscionable really overwhelmed they were by nan full thing.”

In December 2020 arsenic Covid rates were rising again crossed nan UK, he said he was asked to sojourn an unnamed infirmary pinch a medium-sized intensive attraction unit.

"I'll ne'er hide it," he said. "It was a segment from hell."

"This was a infirmary successful massive, monolithic trouble.... location were truthful fewer unit that immoderate of nan nurses had chosen to either usage nan diligent commodes [or] deterioration big diapers because location was virtually nary 1 to springiness them a toilet break," he added.

"This was a infirmary breaking astatine nan seams."

At nan extremity of his evidence, he was thanked by nan inquiry’s chairwoman Baroness Hallett who said “it was evident really distressing it was for you and reliving specified an ordeal is ne'er easy.”

England's main aesculapian serviceman Prof Sir Chris Whitty, who was adjacent to speak astatine nan inquiry, said he agreed pinch nan grounds "very powerfully laid out" by Prof Fong.

He said that NHS hospitals successful England entered nan pandemic successful early 2020 pinch a “very low” level of beds successful intensive attraction compared to akin high-income countries.

“That's a governmental choice. It's a strategy configuration choice, but it is simply a choice,” he told nan inquiry.

“Therefore, you person little successful reserve erstwhile a awesome emergency happens, moreover if it's short of thing of nan standard of covid.”

Sir Chris suggested that countries for illustration nan UK had nary replacement but to enforce lockdown and different societal restrictions to debar a “catastrophic” magnitude of unit connected nan healthcare system.

He accepted that “in galore individual cases” doctors and nurses recovered nan business “incredibly difficult” but said without lockdown restrictions “the anticipation is it would person sewage worse. Not a trivial magnitude worse, but really rather substantially worse”.

Asked astir PPE for healthcare workers, Sir Chris said that messaging astir which masks NHS unit should deterioration was "confused" astatine nan commencement of nan pandemic, starring to an "erosion of trust".

He suggested that much investigation was needed to spot if a higher people FFP3 disguise offered much protection than a basal surgical disguise successful real-life infirmary use, alternatively than successful a laboratory.

"The mobility is what happens erstwhile group are utilizing it day-in and day-out successful operational circumstances, and if it doesn't clasp up successful that situation, it's not doing a heck of a batch of good," he said.

In a early pandemic, he said he would springiness healthcare workers nan prime of which disguise to deterioration "within reason".