The inquiry found several areas where the Welsh Government’s response should’ve been different
The Welsh NHS came “close to collapse” during the pandemic, according to the Covid-19 inquiry. Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett said the healthcare system “teetered on the brink of total collapse” throughout the pandemic and “only just” coped with the pressure it was placed under.
She concluded a complete collapse of the entire system was only “narrowly avoided” because of the “extraordinary efforts of all those working in the healthcare systems”.
The latest 387-page report, which looks at the impact the pandemic had on the NHS in all parts of the UK, says Covid-19’s devastating impact on the NHS was “unsurprising” given the “parlous state” the service was in at the start of the crisis.
The report forms part of the UK Covid Inquiry which is made up of 10 different modules. This latest one, released on Thursday, examines healthcare systems in all parts of the UK. Stay informed on the latest health news by signing up to our newsletter here.
Shielding letters took too long and went to wrong addresses
One area which was examined in the report was shielding letters sent out to clinically extremely vulnerable people at the start of the pandemic. The inquiry found that in Wales this was a “significant and complex task” and the time it took to produce the letters therefore led to a delay of at least two weeks in the letters arriving.
It was concluded the Welsh Government’s pre-pandemic planning was inadequate making the planning and delivery of the shielding programme even more challenging.
The inquiry added: “Sir Frank Atherton, chief medical officer for Wales from August 2016 to January 2025, told the Inquiry that there had been a ‘huge effort to try to improve’ the data systems required to identify at-risk people rapidly but that they were still not in place in September 2024. He told the onquiry: ‘[W]e are behind the curve in Wales on digital records.’”
It also found the content of official communications regarding the shielding programme was affected by problems with data systems and record-keeping. This led to the Welsh Government sending 13,000 of the 91,000 shielding letters to the wrong addresses and children with Down’s syndrome mistakenly receiving letters.
Birthing partner policy should’ve changed earlier
Another issue which arose in the report was the Welsh Government’s stance on whether fathers and birthing partners should be subject to the same restrictions as ‘visitors’. The inquiry highlighted how Wales was the last UK nation to amend the policy for them, on May 9, 2022, and found this change was too slow to be implemented.
Eluned Morgan accepted that the Welsh Government “took too long to make those changes”.
Care was not escalated for those with ‘remote’ chances of recovery
The inquiry also found how some people in Wales were not escalated to the next level of care because, as a critical care doctor in Wales told the inquiry, there was not “enough space to ‘give people a go’ who had a very remote chance of getting better”.
Lack of PPE in Welsh healthcare settings
The report also found it was clear that healthcare workers did at points lack access to appropriate PPE and outlined examples from the UK. A consultant in Wales recalled: “At the start, despite knowing of the virus spread, no PPE was provided. Not even masks let alone thinking of level two PPE for aerosolgenerating procedures. This was when many of my colleagues and I became ill.”
Abandoned 111 calls
Due to the increased demand of people calling 111 more calls were being abandoned by callers before reaching the front of the queue. In Wales 43.3% of calls to the NHS 111 service were abandoned in March 2020. However the inquiry said a change in Welsh Government advice in April 2020 led to fewer abandoned calls when they encouraged the use of the NHS Direct Wales website.
‘Deeply distressing’ experiences of people dying alone
The report also detailed the “devastating impact” of restrictions which led to many dying alone. It found that although such restrictions “may be unavoidable” in a pandemic visits for dying patients should be suspended “for the shortest time possible”.
One case which was highlighted was that of Sam Smith-Higgins, part of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, who had to say goodbye to her father by text message. She said: “I received a call from the doctor who told us that he had deteriorated and that he was dying.
“To not be able to be with my father and to hear that news was completely devastating. He was with a nurse and so I was constrained to saying my farewell to my father by text message with the hope that it would be read out to him.
“It is truly difficult to put into words how painful it is to say farewell to a loved one by text message.”
Withdrawing medicine delivery ‘premature’ in Wales
Unlike other UK nations medicine delivery support in Wales was not funded and available throughout the second wave of the pandemic. Instead it was ended on August 16, 2020, and never reinstated.
The inquiry found it was clear this support, which helped clinically vulnerable people receive medications, would’ve been needed in Wales throughout the second wave and had therefore been withdrawn prematurely. It also detailed how community pharmacists had been key in ensuring vulnerable individuals could access their medications.
One community pharmacist in Wales, Jonathan Rees, told the inquiry: “My wife and I would walk around our village delivering on the weekend with our three young children to ensure everybody received what they needed.”
First Minister Eluned Morgan said in a written statement: “The pandemic placed significant pressures on health and care services in Wales and across the UK. We acknowledge the considerable impact this had on patients, staff, the wider workforce and families affected by Covid-19.
“The Welsh Government continues to engage with the inquiry in an open and constructive manner as we have done in relation to the first two reports.
“The inquiry requires a response to the module three report and recommendations within six months of publication.”
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