Cancelling non-urgent treatment of patients during the pandemic was the “least bad” of a series of “awful options”, Matt Hancock has admitted.
In his third and at times combative appearance at the Covid-19 inquiry, in which he repeatedly interrupted inquiry counsel, Jacqueline Carey KC, the former health secretary defended his decision to allow the NHS to postpone routine treatment and care from April 2020.
Asked if he thought it was the right decision, Hancock said: “Well, obviously reluctantly, but you’re faced with a series of awful options – that was the least bad.”
He said the “overall point is, that we did not have a collapse in the system”.
But Heather Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, questioned Hancock’s assertion that the health service was available to all in the pandemic according to need, pointing out that patients requiring cancer screening, a hip replacement or other surgery could not access the care that they needed.
Hancock insisted that the NHS was not “overwhelmed” and that it was “better to delay some non-urgent operations” to protect the health service and the patients themselves because, people were “more likely to catch Covid in a hospital than in almost any other setting”.
Earlier, Hancock told the inquiry that he “ruffled some feathers” protecting the NHS from political “interference” during the pandemic and that he had been in a “battle” with other parts of government that wanted Covid measures to be relaxed.
He said that part of his job was to “provide a shield” from the “people being difficult” in No 10, but that interference created “incredible difficulties” over testing people for Covid-19.
Hancock also claimed that the former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon caused “all sorts of difficulties” as the pandemic unfolded.
The former health secretary was asked at the beginning of the hearing on Thursday to what extent frontline staff had been protected during the pandemic. While the government did “everything we possibly could”, he said, “does that mean, in a system that employs 1.4 million people in the NHS, with another around two and a half million in social care, that every decision was perfect? Of course it wasn’t.”
And he admitted that in England, the NHS came within “six or seven hours” of running out of gowns and some other PPE. While there was never a “national shortage” of PPE for health workers, “in some places, they did run out – and it was awful”. The NHS needed to learn lessons and ensure better stockpiles for the future, he added.
Responding to Hancock’s evidence, James Telfer, whose mother died of Covid 19, on behalf of Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, accused the former MP of dodging any blame.
“In the wake of catastrophic failures, which contributed to the UK having the second worst death toll in western Europe, Matt Hancock remains more concerned about defending his legacy than helping the UK to make sure that the hellish scenes which played out in our overwhelmed hospitals during the pandemic are never, ever repeated,” he said.
“In the face of indisputable evidence that our loved ones were refused care because of their age or disabilities, because blanket [do not resuscitate] notices were placed on them regardless of their physical capacity, and evidence that the NHS was understaffed and under-resourced to the degree that it could not keep the public safe, Matt Hancock defends his claim that the NHS was never overwhelmed, saying that it was crucial to make sure the public felt safe to use it.”
The BMA council chair, Prof Philip Banfield, said that for Hancock to “triumphantly” say that the NHS was not overwhelmed and that this was a great success for himself and the government is “incredibly galling” for BMA members who worked on the frontlines during the pandemic and were responsible for preventing health services from collapsing entirely.
“Huge amounts of healthcare were rationed and patients who normally would have received treatment outside of a pandemic did not. Vast swathes of care were cancelled to make way for all but the most urgent Covid cases. This included many cancer treatments. This is the very definition of rationing.
“Meanwhile many people stayed away from hospitals and died at home instead.
“Our members – doctors who worked day and night to care for patients – frequently spoke out about being unable to provide the level of care they knew patients needed and they were trained to provide. Staffing ratios were cut and standards were reduced to deal with sheer demand. Doctors and our colleagues were overwhelmed, physically and emotionally – and still bear the mental scars of this moral injury today.”
Helga Pile, head of health at Unison, said Hancock’s legacy was “how not to respond to a national crisis. He should hold his head in shame for deserting health and care staff in their hour of need.”
Safety kit was either unavailable or unfit for purpose, and care workers and those they looked after died, she added.
“It’s time Matt Hancock took responsibility for the chaos caused and the lives lost while he was in charge.”