Matt Hancock has said the NHS in England ran out of gowns and other protective equipment within “six or seven hours” of the Covid pandemic.

The former health secretary was testifying for the third time covid inquiryRegarding the impact on health care systems.

He said there was never a “national shortage” of PPE for healthcare workers, but “in some places, they ran out – and it was terrible”.

Asked about reports that some nurses had to wear binbags at the start of the Covid crisis, she said the NHS needed to “learn the lessons of what went wrong” and be “better stocked” for the future.

Mr Hancock – who was health secretary at the start of the pandemic in 2020 – will give evidence over two days as the inquiry examines the impact on the NHS and healthcare across all four countries of the UK.

On Thursday, Baroness Hallett, chair of the inquiry, had to interrupt the hearing at times to tell bereaved families in the public gallery – some of whom were clearly extremely emotional – to take down photographs of their dead relatives.

Earlier, the former MP had faced tough questions about the lack of facilities in many hospitals at the peak of the two most significant waves of Covid.

In March 2020, Mr Hancock said he was “fearful” newly announced lockdown rules might not be stringent enough to avoid a repeat of scenes in northern Italy, where some Covid patients struggled to access any care. Had to do.

But while some hospitals in England were under “extraordinary pressure”, the wider NHS system was never affected, he said.

Mr Hancock was asked about the case of Suzie Sullivan, who died of Covid in 2020.

Medical notes written at the time stated that Suzie was not suitable for transfer to intensive care due to pre-existing heart disease and Down syndrome. Her father, John, told the first session of the interrogation that she had been “left to die” because of her disability.

Mr Hancock admitted that at the height of the pandemic there could not be an intensive care bed for everyone who needed one.

“There was definitely immense pressure and there will definitely be consequences,” he said.

At times, she said, staffing ratios have had to be increased, meaning specialist critical care nurses have to care for six patients instead of providing one-to-one care at normal times.

But he added: “What we successfully avoided was an overall rationing – saying ‘people will not be looked after according to these characteristics’.”

“This is what would have happened if we had allowed the virus to get further out of control.

“Did people get as good care as they would have in normal times? no way. There was an epidemic,” he told the inquiry.

Asked about visiting restrictions imposed, which mean some relatives cannot be with dying family members in their final moments, and in other places, expectant fathers cannot attend prenatal scans, he Said, “On balance” he believes the government has got the rules. about right”.

“For example, where I think we went wrong was in how the funeral guidelines were implemented on the ground – it was not as intended.”

Other witnesses, including the First Minister of Wales, elund morganAnd Scotland’s former health minister Jean Freeman has suggested that some of those restrictions have gone too far.

Mr Hancock defended the government’s ‘stay at home, save lives, protect the NHS’ message, saying it was “objectively true” that “if we don’t stop the spread of the virus, the NHS will be overwhelmed”.

Giving evidence recently, England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, said, with hindsight, officials failed to let the public know that the NHS was still open to non-Covid patients during the pandemic.

Mr Hancock also told how he had to “ruffle a few feathers” to protect the NHS from political interference.

He said he felt it was his job to “shield” the health service from “the difficulties people face in Number 10”.

He said some interference from political appointees in Number 10 had caused “incredible difficulties” when it came to rolling out Covid testing.