Baroness Hallett has recommended capacity be increased in urgent and emergency care in Wales.
Baroness Hallett said the Welsh NHS came "close to collapse" on a number of occasions and only coped thanks to the almost superhuman efforts of healthcare workers The Welsh NHS came "close to collapse" during the pandemic, according to the Covid-19 public inquiry, as healthcare systems across the UK "coped, but only just".
The inquiry's chair Baroness Hallett has recommended capacity be increased in urgent and emergency care in Wales and that hospitals "have the ability to implement surge capacity".The findings come as the latest waiting times figures for Wales showed a record drop, but remain 54% higher than they were pre-pandemic.There were concerns around the availability of personal protective equipment for NHS staff in Wales in early 2020, with one Welsh consultant telling the inquiry "no PPE was provided" Letters advising vulnerable people to shield were delayed by two weeks due to IT limitations and 13,000 letters were then sent to wrong addresses The Welsh government should have clarified visiting rules for fathers and birthing partners "much earlier" In December 2020 Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil came close to declaring the highest level of pressure One critical care doctor in Wales said that some patients who otherwise may have been admitted to intensive care were not, as there was "not enough space to 'give people a go' who had a very remote chance of getting better" According to Baroness Hallett, the UK entered the pandemic "ill-prepared and with its healthcare systems in a parlous state"."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," she said."The enormous strain placed upon the healthcare systems was unprecedented." The report makes a total of 10 key recommendations including "increasing capacity in urgent and emergency care and ensuring that hospitals have the ability to implement surge capacity". Jenny Hughes-Cooke said she was referred for gynaecology surgery in November 2019 but the pandemic meant a six month wait turned into 28 months Jenny Hughes-Cooke said she waited 13 years for exploratory surgery to confirm suspicions that she had endometriosis.At that stage there were more than 26,000 women waiting to see a specialist in gynaecology in Wales and she was told to expect a six month wait."I didn't really consider how the pandemic would have an effect on gynaecology - it's a totally different discipline.She finally had her surgery in March 2022, but in the meantime she said her symptoms had spiralled."I was in pain every single day and it was exhausting. I couldn't be there for my son or partner like I wanted to. "It was really, really difficult to manage being a mum, a partner, having a career and being me at the same time." The number of women referred to gynaecology in Wales peaked in November 2024 at nearly 53,000 - double the figures when Jenny was first diagnosed. They have gradually fallen since, but still hovered at more than 46,289 according to the most recent figures for January. Jenny said her pain impacted her ability to work and she went through "three or four different jobs" while waiting for surgery. When she was finally given a date for surgery, she was told to self-isolate for eight weeks beforehand, which put "a huge strain" on her relationship with her area manager. "Two days after my surgery I had a phone call to say they couldn't justify me having any more time off."Jenny needed additional surgery in January 2026, but said the knock-on effect of the pandemic is still felt, with follow-up appointments, scans and treatment plans all involving joining the bottom of another waiting list. She said three years after being referred for pain management, she is yet to start treatment, adding it was a common theme among the Endometriosis UK support group that she runs in west Wales.Professor Jon Barry, director in Wales of the Royal College of Surgeons, said the NHS is still not delivering at pace, given the lengthy waits some patients are experiencing Prof Jon Barry, director in Wales of the Royal College of Surgeons, said the system was still under a lot of pressure. "We've got very high numbers of patients waiting at home hoping to be called in for surgery and these patients are in pain," he said. "They're at the end of their tether, they want things to happen more quickly and unfortunately we're not delivering that at pace at the moment." While he acknowledged the pandemic had a "massive influence on the NHS" across the UK, he said: "We must be mindful that the waiting lists were high before the pandemic." Pre-pandemic figures from February 2020 showed there were 463,402 patient pathways waiting for NHS treatment in Wales. At their peak in the autumn of 2024 they rose to more than 800,000, but have since dropped to 713,048 ."My concern is that if we don't act more ambitiously here, the waiting lists are only going to get worse. "If we don't introduce surgical hubs and look at our surgical workforce - and across the NHS - that waiting list will deteriorate."Feeling drained? Blame these forms of hidden work Women are still taking on most of the cognitive burden of running a household. 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