Jim Reed Health reporter, BBC News Prof Kevin Fong said he undertook an informal visit to one of the “hardest hit” intensive care units in the country Treating patients during the pandemic was like responding to a daily terror attack, the Covid inquiry has heard. Giving testimony, Professor Kevin Fong, spoke of staff he met…
Jim Reed Reporting fromCovid inquiry Mark Tilley Mark Tilley worked as an ambulance technician in south-east England through the first two waves of the pandemic Ambulance crews faced crucial delays trying to save dying patients in the pandemic because of the time it took to put on protective equipment, the Covid inquiry has been told….
Covid Inquiry Tamsin Mullen was giving evidence to the Covid inquiry about the impact on maternity services A mother of premature twins has told the Covid inquiry she did not feel like she was treated as a parent after giving birth in the early stages of the pandemic. Tamsin Mullen said she was kept in…
Getty Images Intensive-care units came under severe strain during Covid, the inquiry has heard (stock photo) At least one NHS trust put in place a blanket “do-not-resuscitate” order for sick patients in the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has heard. It would mean individuals were considered ineligible for potentially lifesaving CPR, solely on the basis of…
An urgent review is needed to make sure people in England can get weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro on the NHS, top experts warn. It comes a day after the prime minister said such injections could boost Britain’s economy by getting obese unemployed people “back into work”. More than 200 doctors and…
BBC We are now in the era of weight-loss drugs. Decisions on how these drugs will be used look likely to shape our future health and even what our society might look like. And, as researchers are finding, they are already toppling the belief that obesity is simply a moral failing of the weak-willed. Weight-loss…
Fergus Walsh Medical editor BBC There is nothing in life that is free of risk. That includes vaccines. But the evidence is compelling that the benefits of getting immunised with those vaccines recommended in the UK far outweigh the possibility of serious side effects. The level of benefit from Covid vaccines is well documented. And…
BBC Listen to Jim read this article Five times Prof Kevin Fong broke down in tears in a nondescript hearing room in West London, while giving evidence to the Covid inquiry. The 53-year-old has the kind of CV that makes you pay attention: a consultant anaesthetist in London who also works for the air ambulance…
Covid inquiry Prof Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, was giving evidence to the Covid inquiry in west London. The most senior doctor in NHS England has said he was “personally terrified” that hospitals could have been overwhelmed in the early stages of the pandemic. Prof Sir Stephen Powis told the Covid…
Covid inquiry Boris Johnson’s government blocked a request to fund another 10,000 hospital beds at the height of the Covid pandemic, the chief executive of NHS England has said. Amanda Pritchard told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry the decision, made by the Treasury in July 2020, had been “very disappointing”. Extra beds and staff would have…
