Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government
COVID lockdowns created an untenable situation in the long run for the healthcare industry. People were told to stay home to avoid spreading the virus, but staying home meant going without preventative healthcare and early disease intervention and treatment.
British epidemiologist Sir Chris Whitty, who serves as Chief Medical Officer for England (CMO) and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government, has warned of a rising death toll from heart disease and cancers due to the lack of treatment during lockdowns.
Britain will face a ‘prolonged period’ of deaths due to the pandemic — but not from the Covid virus itself, Sir Chris Whitty and the Government’s top virus advisers said today.
England’s chief medial officer claimed the nation faces a rising death toll from heart disease and cancer cases due to pleas to protect the NHS.
Knock-on effects of dealing with Covid, which saw thousands of routine treatments and appointments delayed, will also fuel a surge in excess deaths.
The comments came from a ‘technical report’ published on the pandemic, advising health chiefs in the future on how to deal with similarly disruptive viral threats.
Hundreds more Britons than expected are currently dying each week, despite the worst of the pandemic being over.
Experts say the collateral effects of Covid on treating cancer are to blame for a big proportion of those.
Cancer checks effectively ground to a halt during the pandemic and patients faced delays for treatment as oncologists were put on Covid wards and patients were told to stay at home to protect the NHS.
Official figures show 7.1million people in England waiting for routine hospital treatment, such as hip and knee operations, by the end of September, the latest available data.
This figure also includes more than 400,000 people who have been waiting for over a year, often in pain and discomfort.
A recent UK Excess Mortality Rate presentation shares some of interesting details.