Good morning. Yesterday lunchtime the UK Covid-19 inquiry published its latest findings – this time on how the NHS, its staff and patients were affected during the pandemic. It delivered a stark verdict: the health service “teetered on the brink of collapse” and only avoided it through the “almost superhuman efforts” of staff.
Heather Hallett, the inquiry chair, said healthcare systems “coped, but only just” – and rejected the claim made by Conservative ministers at the time that the NHS had not been overwhelmed. For bereaved families, that language matters.
