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BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA doctor at one of Wales’ hospitals hardest hit by Covid described seeing families “decimated” by the virus. <\/p>\n Dr Ceri Lynch worked at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital near Llantrisant, and said she tries not to think too much about the time.<\/p>\n But the memories that hurt most are about people dying with their family members unable to be there. <\/p>\n The impact of the pandemic on NHS staff such as Dr Lynch will be under the spotlight as the UK Covid-19 Inquiry resumes its hearings in London on Monday.<\/p>\n Part three of the inquiry is looking specifically at the effect on the NHS in the four UK nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I try not to think about it if I’m honest – it was a very unpleasant and stressful time for everybody,” she said. <\/p>\n “We were seeing entire families decimated by Covid, several members of the same family coming into our unit and dying. <\/p>\n “It was heart-breaking.”<\/p>\n Talking about people dying alone with no loved-ones, she added: “That felt so wrong at the time, and it feels wrong now looking back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dr Lynch believes her own critical care department, along with others, were close to becoming overwhelmed at certain points. <\/p>\n The entire pandemic left staff exhausted, she said. <\/p>\n “We had to try and be the family’s representatives and look after the patient, pass on messages and be there when they died,” Dr Lynch explained. <\/p>\n “Often we were communicating via tablets and iPads, and that felt very wrong as well. <\/p>\n “It felt like we were live streaming somebody’s death.”<\/p>\n She added there has been little respite for staff since, as the pandemic caused an enormous growth in the number of patients waiting for planned treatments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “We’re all involved in the effort to catch-up with the waiting lists,” she said. <\/p>\n “Patients are more complicated now because they’ve waited longer for surgery and people are presenting later with other conditions.<\/p>\n “There’s also long Covid which has affected a lot of the community and staff.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Part three of the inquiry will examine issues, including:<\/p>\n During Covid, we saw the number of infected patients in intensive care or on ventilation peaking at 164 in April 2020. <\/p>\n Beds had been freed up to cope, with 50 more patients in Welsh hospitals than usual capacity at the worst period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n In the year before Covid, there was an average of more than 4,100 pre-planned surgical operations carried out on in-patients every month. <\/p>\n During the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, this fell to fewer than 600 a month. <\/p>\n In-patient surgery dropped to 1,400 operations a month in the year of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Groups representing the families of Covid-19 victims in Wales say, in the absence of a Welsh-specific Covid inquiry, this phase of the UK inquiry will need to look at what happened in Wales in detail.<\/p>\n “This healthcare module is so important to our families, it’s now the only mechanism we have of finding out what happened in Wales,” said Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees, the leader of Covid-19 Bereaved Families Cymru.<\/p>\n “We already know that with the right preparation, correct understanding of SARS2 and proper infection prevention and control, these deaths could have been prevented.<\/p>\n “In Module three we must find out why in Wales GPs wouldn’t take calls or see patients, why no-one knew all the Covid symptoms, why our loved ones were put on non-Covid wards where 20 plus patients and staff had Covid, why even when PPE was available, it wasn’t the right PPE.”<\/p>\n The families groups say they are looking for accountability from the Welsh government, Public Health Wales and NHS Wales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile, the Welsh NHS Confederation, which represents health boards, argued the pandemic’s after-effects continue to be felt.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on everyone, including health and care services, and still does,” said director Darren Hughes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most obvious impact is the growth in the elective care backlog, due to the pause in non-urgent care during pandemic peaks,” he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe pandemic also had a huge impact on staff, who were operating under sustained pressure for long periods of time. This is not just exhausting but can have a long-term effect on morale.<\/p>\n \u201cThe system is still working exceptionally hard to catch up… managing increasing incoming demand and financial constraints.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite all the painful memories, Dr Lynch also looks back at the pandemic period with a certain degree of pride.<\/p>\n “I’m proud of how we all worked as a team… we worked hard, particularly in our hospital,” she said. <\/p>\n “I think we got people through that maybe might not have survived otherwise. <\/p>\n “I think we’ve learned a lot.”<\/p>\n Nevertheless, she is worried about ongoing pressures and believes a key question for the inquiry is whether the NHS is adequately funded.<\/p>\n “We’re still in a very bad situation now, because we haven’t got enough staff, enough resources… and I think we need investment,” she added.<\/p>\n “So my question would be, please invest in the health service. <\/p>\n “Or are we going to lose it?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Dr Ceri Lynch<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
What was the impact in Wales?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Call for accountability<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n