New phase of Covid-19 inquiry examining impact on healthcare begins
The Covid-19 inquiry enters its third phase out of nine today, examining the impact the pandemic had on patients, healthcare workers and the wider NHS.
More than 32,000 personal testimonies from healthcare frontline staff, infection-control experts, patients and relatives will comprise the evidence put forward. The public hearing will include investigations into the vaccine rollout, the use of masks and PPE in hospitals, and how managers led the pandemic response. NHS backlogs, the diagnosis of long Covid, and the role of GPs will also be examined.
Once the lawyers set out their points, leaders from the Health and Safety Executive, the Covid-19 Airborne Transmission Alliance and trade union Unison are also expected to give evidence at the public hearing this week.
Headed by former Court of Appeal judge Baroness Heather Hallett, Module 1 of the inquiry looked at the UK's preparedness for the pandemic, while Module 2 studied the UK's decision making and core administrative governance.
More than 50 witnesses from bereaved families are also due to be called forward, but the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK campaign group expressed 'deep' concern that only two of the 23 witnesses it submitted are being requested to speak.
Nicola Brook, solicitor at Broudie Jackson Canter, which represents over 7,000 families from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group, said to The Standard: 'This module of the inquiry is one of the most important in understanding the true horrors of the pandemic.
'It will reveal some of the most shocking details, distressing stories and outrageous scandals that took place.
If the process of investigating the pandemic has caused you distress, here are some organisations who can provide different forms of support.
What are the testimonies saying so far?
Jacqueline Carey KC, counsel to the inquiry, started off by quoting the words of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson: 'Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives', and said that the investigation will examine why the NHS needed to protected. She revealed that some 225,000 pages of evidence have been disclosed to the inquiry.
She read out the anonymous testimony of a hospital porter who said it was 'horrible' that some Covid patients were left alone in intensive care. 'So many people died on their own with only one family member around them.'
'We knew if [Dad] went into hospital, I would wave goodbye at the door and the chances are I would never see him again and he would die alone in hospital,' was the account from one bereaved family member.
The inquiry also featured a video showing healthcare staff describing medical practices during the pandemic. They had to work 'knowing we were being exposed to Covid', feeling 'very vulnerable' while receiving 'no support at all'.
Poet and presenter Michael Rosen has discussed his experience being in hospital. He said to the BBC that healthcare staff requested that he 'sign a piece of paper to let us put you to sleep'. When asked if he would wake up, they said he had a '50/50' chance.
Carey said that GPs were under-resourced from the pandemic's start, with one nurse having almost 20 different guidelines to read every day, often focusing on reviewing them instead of attending to patients.
Mandi Masters, 62, a community midwife, said to the BBC that the NHS was 'working in the dark' during the pandemic's beginning. 'It was absolutely horrendous. We were really struggling, having to scrounge around for masks and gloves', she revealed.
Lynda Ross, form Portadown, was affected by the steep rise in delays and waiting lists caused by the pandemic and the subsequent decision to stop treatments like knee and hip operations. She was due to undergo spinal surgery in 2020, but had her operation cancelled, and when she could see her doctor again, it was too late for her to be treated.
'I have to live my life in a level of pain that has me on the same medication as someone who is dying from cancer,' she elaborated. 'It feels like the rest of my life has been destroyed.'
Carey also spoke about the blue surgical mask that many civilians will have worn, pointing out that it does not fit the face, and notes that the inquiry hears of one hospital that skipped mask fit tests for trained staff to avoid being overwhelmed.
'Despite the narrative pedalled by those in charge that the UK coped, the sad fact is people died unnecessarily. Groups like the disabled and the elderly were written off because it was considered that their lives were not worth saving', Brook added.
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