The coronavirus pandemic has tested the NHS and its staff in a way not seen before in its 71- year history.
At the peak of this outbreak, hospitals in England were treating around 19,000 patients a day with Covid-19, a virus unknown just a few short months ago.
That has been falling by up to 2,000 patients a week and is now at just over 9,000.
But we are not out of the woods and have a difficult path ahead.
Continued vigilance will be vital. However, the NHS has so far risen to the challenge.
Thanks to hard work and careful preparation and the public’s own action we did not see the health service overwhelmed as happened in some other countries – and as many had predicted would happen here.
And while in the past some have accused the NHS of being inflexible and monolithic, when the virus struck, our nurses, doctors, therapists, engineers, scientists and countless other staff rolled up their sleeves and set about transforming care in a way unimaginable at the start of the year.
Hospitals were redesigned to double critical care capacity, with operating theatres and recovery bays repurposed to provide ventilators for the sickest patients with coronavirus.
Barriers between NHS hospital and community services have been erased, and specialist mental health crisis services created. Local councils, care providers, the Armed Forces, the private sector and volunteers have all pitched in as part of the truly national effort to tackle coronavirus.
Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, says we are ‘not yet out of the woods’ but that hard work, careful preparation and the public’s own actions have ensured the NHS has not been overwhelmed by the biggest challenge in its 71-year history
Hospitals were redesigned to double critical care capacity, with operating theatres and recovery bays repurposed to provide ventilators for the sickest patients with coronavirus. Pictured: Paramedics take a patient into St Thomas’ Hospital
Specialist nurses, GPs, local authority public health infection control experts and others are rightly now supporting the nation’s care homes, which have historically operated independently of the NHS.
And contrary to some commentary, the number of patients discharged from hospitals to care homes each day actually went down, as expanded community services rose to the challenge.
Remote consultations have proved a crucial way of keeping patients and staff safe, and plans to roll them out across the NHS have been achieved in weeks rather than years.
GPs have switched from conducting around nine out of 10 consultations in person to managing more than four out of five remotely.
Remote consultations should never replace face-to-face appointments for those who want them but are a useful option for providing convenient and timely care for many.
This formidable ‘can do’ spirit will only be more important in the months and years ahead.
I have personally experienced the way this virus can leave you flat on your back and, thankfully, was among the majority who got through it.
When pubs and clubs reopen, nobody wants to go back to drunk and disorderly behaviour swelling the numbers at busy A&Es. Pictured: Revellers take their own beer to a closed pub in Primrose Hill
But the tragic truth is that for many, that has not been the outcome. Indeed, my family has sadly lost two people close to us through this terrible virus.
Scientists and clinicians are still working to understand the virus but one thing is now clear: Covid does not hit us all equally.
Age, ethnicity and inequality all compound the risk. And underlying health risks such as obesity dramatically magnify the danger.
So one of the legacies of this emergency must be that the NHS – along with wider society – redoubles its efforts to help people live healthier, long lives.
Helping patients who have survived will be a huge job. The first Seacole centre, providing rehabilitation services for those who have had the virus, opened a fortnight to go and we will need more of this.
The health service must also remain able to respond to any future Covid flare-ups. This means keeping at least some of the amazing Nightingale hospitals in reserve, as well as extra hospital and community services.
The new NHS partnership with independent hospitals is also continuing to provide extra beds, staff, operating theatres and equipment.
Even then, resuming non-urgent services paused while we dealt with the coronavirus peak will be a challenge.
Patients and their families will need to play their part by isolating for two weeks before an operation.
The Government is working hard to get NHS staff the personal protective equipment (PPE) that they need, and demand for masks, gowns and aprons will go up as we see more patients return for treatment.
So I would like to once again thank on behalf of the whole NHS the generous Daily Mail readers and Mail Force donors who have provided extra kit for colleagues on the health and social care frontline.
This very practical expression of public support for our staff has been hugely welcome everywhere it has been received.
Since the foundation of the NHS in 1948 staff and patients have benefited from the support of volunteers and philanthropists, and the Mail Force campaign upholds that fine tradition.
We know that some people have been deterred from seeking help by fears over coronavirus or because they did not want to be ‘a burden’ at a busy time.
Our message to Daily Mail readers today is: If you do need help, don’t delay. Please help us to help you.
Whether you are a worried parent of a sick child, or you or a loved one have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, seek help as you always would.
Not coming forward can have serious consequences – now or in the future. That also applies to those with cancer worries.
The NHS has treated as many cancer patients as possible where it has been safe to do so and these numbers will rise as the virus recedes.
But we know from staff on the frontline that far fewer people came forward for cancer checks last month.
The data also broke down the ‘attack rate’ – the number of people infected in total – for each of the regions in England, saying that around 12 per cent of England had caught the virus in total
While urgent cancer referrals are now picking back up – having doubled over the past three weeks – catching cancers early makes them easier to treat and saves lives.
Over the coming months, the NHS will be moving Heaven and Earth to restart services for patients who need this support.
While we want to see the NHS returning to business as usual there are some changes that patients and staff will welcome.
A&E visits for alcohol intoxication fell by 59 per cent last month. We should reflect on how that could be maintained in the future.
When pubs and clubs reopen, nobody wants to go back to drunk and disorderly behaviour swelling the numbers at busy A&Es.
The entire country has mobilised to deal with coronavirus in a way not seen since the Second World War.
The NHS was born out of the sacrifice of that conflict.
We owe it to all those who have given so much in the fight against Covid-19 to ensure that we build an even better, stronger and agile NHS for the future.