Covid ‘Stay at Home’ Order May Have Cost Thousands of Lives, Inquiry Finds
The government’s ‘Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ slogan during the Covid pandemic may have cost thousands of lives as it “sent the message that healthcare was closed”, the Covid Inquiry has concluded. The Mail has more.
The message, which was created by Cabinet Office officials without input from health leaders, deterred people from accessing healthcare during the pandemic.
Some people steered clear of A&E even for life-threatening emergencies such as heart attacks.
A British Heart Foundation survey found that 66% of adults with a heart condition avoided accessing care during the pandemic despite their condition worsening.
The two main reasons cited were wanting to avoid putting pressure on the NHS and concerns about catching COVID-19 in hospital.
Cancer patients faced late diagnosis and treatment, while pregnant women were left without maternity services due to staff sickness and isolation.
“There was a decline in attendances at emergency departments and other healthcare settings for non-COVID-19 conditions, even for life-threatening medical emergencies,” the inquiry found.
“This suggests that the public messaging of Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives may have, inadvertently, sent the message that healthcare was closed.”
Attempts were made to encourage people to seek help when needed, but Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said officials “didn’t get it across well enough”.
The report highlighted how politicians, including former health secreatry Matt Hancock, were reluctant to say that the NHS was “overwhelmed”.
Inquiry Chairman Baroness Heather Hallett said: “Ultimately, in my view, it is a question of semantics. Whatever word one chooses, healthcare systems were placed under intolerable strain.”
She added the NHS “teetered on the brink of total collapse”.
Her new 387-page report says the impact on the NHS was “unsurprising” given the “parlous state” the service was in at the start of the crisis.
Lady Hallett said the NHS coped during the pandemic “but only just”.
Other findings from the new UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry report include:
- Thousands of patients died in hospitals alone and grieving families were deprived of the opportunity to say goodbye;
- Many patients with COVID-19 “did not get the quality of treatment they needed”;
- Patients who did not have COVID-19 had their diagnosis and treatment delayed “to the point where their conditions became untreatable”;
- Communications with millions of people shielding during the crisis “were not always appropriately handled”, with some incorrectly told to shield while others were not given the instruction when they should have.
Worth reading in full.
But of course, despite recognising the considerable harms caused by lockdown, the inquiry makes no recommendation to avoid them in future. Just to do them better. As though the problem is the way lockdowns were done, not the very idea of trying to bring a country to a standstill for months on end to try to eliminate an endemic airborne virus. The Covid Inquiry continues to pour hundreds of millions of pounds down the drain.
Stop Press: In the Telegraph, Carl Heneghan welcomes the inquiry’s finding that public messaging should have balanced infection control with reassurance, instead of encouraging the public to panic.
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When the slogan ‘Protect the NHS’ was promulgated my immediate reaction was: ‘I thought it was there to help me, not the other way around. What will the government require of me next? That I should protect the police, or even the Army?’ It was first class nonsense, got up by the agents of a pharmaceutical industry set on making a killing (to use the mot juste) out of its experimental gene therapy.
So much to say, but will limit it to a total lack of criticism of the NHS.
Every autumn we get the same whining about NHS concerned about not being able to cope with the expected “surge” in demand due to the next expected “super viral outbreak”, and yet in the intervening spring and summer months have done absolutely f*ck all to anticipate or mitigate this “expected” surge. If they know (claim) its coming, then plan for it and prioritise resources, failure to consistently plan, is planning to fail.
Absolute failure of management, including all the self important civil servants and ministers.
Like so much that’s wrong with the UK’s public sector, the NHS is quite well aware that generating these annual scare stories is the best way to acquire additional funding. It seems to work every time, so why would they want to change their habits?
Very true, but if they were made accountable it would be very different, put their cosy salaries and bullet proof final salary pensions at risk, and we’d see a very different picture.
Biggest IF ever, Kev.
NHS management is abysmal, presiding over obscene waste and delivering less treatment with billions more money.
“But of course, despite recognising the considerable harms caused by lockdown, the inquiry makes no recommendation to avoid them in future. Just to do them better. “
This statement gives the impression that:
1. there was a “pandemic” in the first place
2. lockdowns of some description were necessary
3. some other “pandemic” will occur in the future.
Let’s be clear, there was NO pandemic despite the deceits of the disgraced WHO.
The notion that lockdowns have a place in medical responses is a complete fiction.
We will at some point be faced with another “pandemic.”
Given that the whole story, every last bit of it was a con, a Scamdemic I find this simply beyond comprehension.
And let us not forget that the Hallet enquiry is itself simply the final act in what was probably the greatest con job ever pulled on mankind in our history.
sanityunleashed@substack.com
Exactly!
I’m not sure why you don’t think there will be a real pandemic in the future; history suggests that there could well be. Will Jones is saying that even if there is one lockdowns would be the wrong response. I agree.
Actually, history together with the falsification of germ theory suggests there has never been a ‘pandemic’, only fantasy, false inference and ignorance.
Exactly.
When was the last one that was an existential threat?
We’re living in the middle of it. It’s called Islam. And the NHS hasn’t got a vaccine against it.
I will not attempt to explain why “pandemics” cannot happen but I would advise you to read Dr Mike Yeadon’s work, he has a Telegram channel, and he makes it quite clear that they are no longer possible.
The enquiry is yet another truly obscene waste of money. Those responsible are given the easiest of rides.
In the unlikely event any of them face tough question the result will be the same as the subpostmaster scandal ie eff all consequences for the most criminal and contemptible behaviour.
“…may have cost thousands of lives as it “sent the message that healthcare was closed””
Well done, Lady Hallett! All those £ms, well worth it to arrive at a Statement of the Bleeding Obvious. Respected scientists were pointing this out, oh, 4-5 years ago… Karol Sikora and Mark Woolhouse are just two names that come to mind: there are many more.
Perhaps you were too busy cowering in your bubble, petrified of the sentient virus, with Shields-Up against misinformation, to notice this.
But hey, if it cost “thousands of lives”, that’s just a footnote: because, as we all know, lockdowns saved squillions(*) of lives. So that’s all right then.
(*) see model by Ferguson
My 89 year old mother, living quite happily in Sunderland, suffered a back spasm at the end of March 2020, just after the initial lockdown had been implemented. Her normal recourse in these circumstances was to go for physiotherapy, but the physiotherapists were locked down, as was her GP surgery, which meant that she was alone and couldn’t access appropriate pain relief. Because the pain was unbearable, she attempted, unsuccessfully, to take her own life using some opioid painkillers she had in the house.
When she didn’t answer the phone, my younger brother called on her, found her comatose, and called the emergency services.
Roughly 24 hours later, when she regained consciousness the first person to speak to her was a psychiatrist who wanted to assess her state of mind. When she explained the circumstances that led her to attempt to take her own life, he agreed that she’d reacted entirely rationally under the circumstances.
It’s such a great shame that she’s no longer around to tell Lady Hallett how facile her analysis of the practical implementation of the lockdowns has been.
This is a very upsetting story but sadly not unusual.
My brother’s cancer diagnosis was delayed – GPs hiding – and as a result he died 6 months later. My much loved mother died 3 months later of a broken heart, crushed by the pain of it all.
I damn the incompetent, gutless, venal bas t ards who took two beloved family members from me.
As documented here the appropriate treatments were known but ignored in order to facilitate the rollout of the Fake Vaccines
Precisely this, policy encouraged by people like Bill Gates who had invested in “vaccine” companies and wanted a return on the billions he extracted from users of Microshite software.
The NHS was closed. I had to take my cancer stricken mother to the local hospital after a wait of several weeks – we are not seeing anyone said the nurse in charge of her care, when we finally got an appointment the entire hospital was empty. One other elderly lady was in the huge waiting room I imagine in similar circumstances. They admitted her into a ward. She was the only patient there. 8 empty beds and my mother in a side ward. And I had to wear a mask. I was only allowed to visit by appointment for one hour. I said ok I will come back again at the same time tomorrow. Oh no, they said, 1 hour once a week. I wrote to Boris Johnson. His flunky responded to say that healthcare is a devolved issue and I should take it up with my regional assembly.
I’m beyond disgusted Lies, lies, lies.
“Staying home” for many people, including the elderly and immunocompromised meant prolonged contact in confined living spaces, especially the many with no garden or other outdoor space, instead of exercise and fresh air in wide open places like parks. The stay home message undoubtedly killed and was without mercy or morals.
Let’s not forget the kids from what are called disadvantaged backgrounds. Their education and chances of a better life were destroyed because the government was useless and the teachers’ unions used every excuse to keep schools closed.
I took my son for an orthopaedic checkup early in the first lockdown. The orthopaedic surgeon was clearly petrified…..
That would have raised a red flag, sounds like he clearly wasn’t fit to practice medicine….
“Attempts were made to encourage people to seek help when needed, but Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said officials “didn’t get it across well enough”.” I’m sorry, some of us tried to access and get help when needed but were told no, or you will have to wait despite the urgency!
because the imaginary emergency of the NHS leadership was more important than your real emergency.
He’s a liar. Plain simple.
The NHS leadership was at the forefront of the scaremongering. They need to own up to their responsibility.
Yes, and then what? Accountability? Probably not.
My father in law is in his 90ies and living in Germany. He had a kidney transplant many years ago and needs to go for regular check-ups. When he went there in the middle of the pandemic the receptionist discovered he was not vaccinated and insisted he could not use the waiting room but had to sit outside in freezing temperatures. Fortunately my wife was with him and said, no. She insisted that he be offered a place to sit, and after some grumbling they found a room where he could wait. Finally when the time came to see the doctor, the doctor went into a long rant about him not being vaccinated and he must have spent half an hour hurling abuse and foaming at the mouth, until finally my wife said enough is enough and they walked out. They shortly received a bill for “medical advice”. They refused to pay, and were threatened by a lawyer. They told him politely that it was the doctor who was in dereliction of duty, and that there were witnesses. They heard no more of the matter. They also filed a complaint with the medical board, but this was ignored. They switched… Read more »
I’m the only unvaccinated person in my whole family. I’m also the only person who doesn’t get seriously bad colds twice or thrice per year. In fact, I haven’t been seriously ill since the initial bout of COVID in November 2019 and haven’t even been feverish for more than a day for years.
COVID has decidedly improved my overall health.
Inadvertently gave the impression?
GPs hiding from patients, relentless propaganda to “protect the NHS” – ie just shut and die – all inadvertent.
Absolutely disgusting Typical of the unprincipled, arrogant Whitty who threw out carefully and expensively-prepared pandemic plans in a spineless attempt to boost his profile and career prospects. He and Vallance were a total disgrace. In cahoots with the appalling weasel Hancock they have destroyed trust in the government and medical establishment and totally trashed the economy in the process.
Not only have they got away with it, they’ve been honoured.
I thought the covid inquiry had finished?