Today, bereaved families travelled from all over the country to ‘walk the wall’ together, in an act of solidarity and support for one another. 480 families also wrote to their MP’s asking them to join us.
It’s heartbreaking to see new families who have recently lost loved ones joining our group, having gone through the same experiences that we had 18 months ago.
With nearly 1,000 deaths in the last week, it’s becoming clear that by kicking the UK inquiry down the road for as long as poss, the Government is failing to learn the lessons that will save lives. People could be dying unnecessarily as a direct consequence.
Their excuses that they are “too busy” are hardly convincing when restrictions have been entirely lifted and Scotland have been able to start work on theirs.
It’s disappointing that neither Boris Johnson/any Conservative front benchers came today. If they are serious about protecting lives in this country, they must start listening to bereaved families and bring the inquiry forward so that lessons can be learnt asap #CovidInquiryNow
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Yesterday the @covidinquiryuk concluded its investigation into the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems in the UK.
From the early stages of the pandemic we knew that our healthcare systems were failing.
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We knew that because we could see how our loved ones, and the healthcare workers doing all they could to help them, were being failed.
That’s why we are immensely proud to have campaigned to bring the truth of what happened to our healthcare systems to light via the Inquiry.
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The Inquiry has cut through the rhetoric and bluster of those in charge at the time with irrefutable evidence of an NHS which, already on its knees, was entirely overwhelmed during the pandemic.
Today the Covid 19 Inquiry heard that at least one NHS trust implemented a blanket Do Not Attempt Resuscitation Order during the pandemic.
That means patients were considered ineligible for resuscitation on the basis of age or disability, without being individually assessed.
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Population Triage is irrefutable evidence that the NHS was overwhelmed. Recognising this is crucial to adequately preparing for the next pandemic.
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For our members this revelation is horrifying but unsurprising. Many bereaved families knew this to be the case, and it is down to their campaigning that this has come to light in the Inquiry.
Becky Kummer, whose dad died of Covid 19, has issued the following statement:
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At a hearing today, the Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Baroness Hallett confirmed that bereaved families are to be excluded from Module 8, examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people.
Matt Fowler, co-founder of the group, says: “The experiences of our members are vast. Within our group we have young children with PTSD who freeze at the sight of an ambulance or who are scared to go near a hospital because they associate it with death.
We have adults trying to raise traumatised and grief-stricken young children alone, while suppressing their own grief and PTSD, right through to professionals who work with children and young adults who report worrying signs of the impact of lockdowns on those they work with.
The scenes in ITV’s ‘Breathtaking’ happened because of government inaction, arrogance and negligence. It wasn’t inevitable; adequate PPE and testing, a swifter lockdown and properly funded services would have saved thousands of lives.
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It is crucial that the experiences of the bereaved, of doctors and key workers depicted in ‘Breathtaking’ are also heard at the UK Covid 19 Inquiry. Those in power must know the impact of their failures.
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If a new pandemic were to hit tomorrow, the UK would be plunged into the same hell yet again. The government must learn lessons from the Inquiry and act now to save lives in this and future pandemics.
It was very frustrating to watch the inquiry let Matt Hancock, who over saw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 before resigning for breaking his own lockdown rules, get away with lie after lie today.
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For example he claimed that in late March ‘societal opinion’ was against interventions, when in fact many care homes had already ‘locked down’ at that point, and many of our members were already doing everything they could to protect their loved ones who might be vulnerable.
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Shockingly he also claimed that the UK avoided having to decide who the NHS should prioritise or treat. In the first six months of the pandemic, only 8,000 of the 26,000 excess Covid-19 fatalities took place in hospital.
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Today was another day of horrific evidence making clear that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak made catastrophic decisions that led to the unnecessary loss of countless lives, crippled the NHS and plunged the country into even longer lockdowns.
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We learned that when Boris Johnson should have been preparing the country for Covid, he was instead insisting “this will be fine”.
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We were told that even after awful death toll of the first wave he was claiming that “most people who die have reached their time anyway” and wanted to “let it rip”, and was “weak and indecisive” according to his own Chief Scientific Advisor.
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