Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed during his testimony at the Covid inquiry that England’s hospitals were on the brink of running out of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the early months of the pandemic, with gowns being within six or seven hours of running out at one point. Hancock admitted that some hospitals may have run out of PPE, but the country as a whole never did.
Hancock also suggested that vaccines should be mandatory for NHS and social care staff during future pandemics and advocated for masks to be worn in hospitals from the outset. Additionally, he expressed regret over the delayed implementation of vaccination as a condition of deployment for care home staff.
In a separate development, there are calls to abandon a private member’s bill on assisted dying introduced by Kim Leadbeater and instead push for a government-led review to establish a comprehensive legislative framework. The government has also indicated that the proposed leasehold reform bill will take longer than expected due to serious flaws in the legislation that need to be addressed.
On the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham pub bombings, MP Jess Phillips and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street paid tribute to the victims and called for a public inquiry into the attacks. The king also expressed his condolences and admiration for the courage of the people of Birmingham in the aftermath of the tragedy.
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