The Covid inquiry has concluded that the "Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives" messaging actually meant thousands of people missed vital treatment for cancer and heart attacks.
Millions of patients without Covid had their appointments and surgeries cancelled as the NHS prioritised those with the virus.
Baroness Hallett's inquiry found these delays were "debilitating" and caused additional cancer deaths.
Her report concluded the NHS "came close to collapse" during the pandemic.
She even specifically noted it had been "overwhelmed" - in the face of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who maintained the NHS was "never overwhelmed" at the time.
The health service's waiting list is still yet to recover from the pandemic's impact - more than five years since the first Covid case was recorded in Britain.
Before the first lockdown in March 2020, the list stood at 4.24 million patients, and by September 2023, this figure had ballooned to 7.77 million.
The current total is 7.16 million.
The 'Stay Home, Protect the NHS' messaging resulted in thousands of people missing vital treatment
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Baroness Hallett, the High Court judge chairing the inquiry, said the Government's key slogan may have "inadvertently sent the message that healthcare was closed".
The Cabinet Office under Boris Johnson created the messaging without consulting health leaders, according to the report.
It meant heart attack patients avoided A&E because they did not wish to "burden" the NHS, leading to extra deaths from cardiac events.
Delays in diagnosing and treating bowel cancer led to roughly 1,630 additional deaths beyond expected figures.
Hip replacement procedures dropped by 42 per cent during the pandemic's first year, leaving approximately 44,000 patients without their operations.
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Baroness Hallett, the High Court judge chairing the inquiry, said the Government's key slogan may have 'inadvertently sent the message that healthcare was closed'
| PABaroness Hallett said: "It is clear that, during the pandemic, worsening delays in diagnosis and treatment led to increased ill-health and suffering and, in some cases, cost lives.
"Some patients waited so long that they were no longer suitable for surgery and have been left with permanent loss of mobility."
Overstretched hospitals denied some patients intensive care, while others had "Do Not Resuscitate" orders placed on them "inappropriately", the inquiry found.
Visitor restrictions meant many patients died alone, unable to see their families in their final moments.
As a result, the crossbench peer has recommended that future pandemics should see visitor limits kept to "the least restrictive possible".
The Cabinet Office under Boris Johnson created the slogan without consulting health leaders
|GETTY
She has also called for increased A&E capacity and more hospital beds to handle future crises.
The inquiry chair noted the NHS was in a "precarious state" before the pandemic began.
She said that in future pandemics, restarting routine care as quickly as possible must be a "priority" for the NHS.
The 404-page report represents the third of ten modules from the inquiry, which was established in June 2022.
Hearings concluded earlier this month.
The inquiry has cost more than £200million and is expected to deliver its final report in summer 2027.