Lack of beds a ‘political choice’, says top doctor in the British COVID study

Britain had a “very low” number of beds for the sickest patients before the pandemic due to “political choice”, according to England’s top doctor.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty told a national COVID-19 research On Thursday, another pandemic of the same magnitude was a “certainty” and the country must act now to ensure it is better prepared.

“The UK has very low ICU capacity compared to most of our peers in high-income countries,” he said. “That is a choice, that is a political choice.

“It’s a system configuration choice, but it’s a choice. That is why you have less reserve if a major emergency occurs, even if it is smaller than the magnitude of COVID-19.”

Britain must train more staff and tackle deep-rooted health inequalities if it wants to increase capacity ahead of a future pandemic, he added.

COVID-19 Britain hit particularly hardwith more than 230,000 deaths from the pandemic. The deep inequality disproportionately affected people of color and those living in disadvantaged areas.

Whitty became known during the pandemic for his frequent appearances at daily public speeches with leaders such as Boris Johnson. He has since described a “chaotic” and “disjointed” government response to COVID-19. But, like the Standard notes that he has avoided personal criticism of the former prime minister.

Years of underinvestment

Experts have long criticized the country’s lawmakers for underinvesting in the NHS for years.

It is currently facing crises in emergencies, electives and mental health carewith too few beds and too few staff to meet demand. A lack of adequate social care beds also prevents hospitals from discharging patients, increasing bed occupancy.

As a result, wait times for emergency care and many elective procedures have skyrocketed.

Last year, experts from health think tanks the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation blamed political decisions and under-investment for many of the NHS’s problems.

Before the pandemic, Britain endured a decade of austerity policies, with public services coming under pressure before the pandemic hit. Although investment in the National Health Service grew in real terms, the rate of growth was much slower than in previous years.

Britain’s new Labor government has promised to ‘reform’ the healthcare system, but it is not clear this will deliver the level of investment many industry figures have called for.

Deaths on an “indescribable” scale

The COVID-19 inquiry on Tuesday also included emotional testimony from London intensive care doctor Professor Kevin Fong.

Fong, who was moved to tears several times during the session, was appointed national clinical advisor for emergency preparedness and resilience during the pandemic.

Describing the huge number of patients dying in hospitals, he said: “The scale of deaths faced by intensive care teams during Covid was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

“These people are used to seeing death, but not on that scale and not in that way,” he added. “Whatever the numbers show, the experience for them was indescribable.”