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Covid pandemic linked to surge in child and teen diabetes

There has been an unusual rise in the number of children and teenagers around the world diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since Covid, say researchers.

A new study in JAMA Network Open journal has collated available data from different countries, including the UK, on more than 38,000 young people diagnosed during the pandemic.

The authors describe the increase in cases of diabetes as "substantial".

More work is needed to understand why the rise is happening, they say.

Some of the rise could be attributed to catch-up - from backlogs and delays when health services were shut - but does not explain all of the newly diagnosed cases, say scientists.

Before the pandemic, the incidence rate of childhood type 1 diabetes was already increasing - by about 3% a year.

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Covid pandemic births: Mothers 'pitted against midwives'

Women have spoken to the BBC about the "nightmare" of giving birth during the restrictions imposed because of Covid.

The London Assembly was told a de facto maternity ward ban on partners meant new mums often got very little support.

Campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed said elective Caesareans spiked, as women tried to find a way to have their partner by their side.

Patient care also suffered as maternity units struggled with what a midwifery group said was a 40% staff absence.

A London Assembly health committee review of Covid pandemic pregnancy care has heard that more than three-quarters of the some 110,000 women who gave birth in the capital in 2020 were believed to have done so without their partner's support.

Joeli Brearley, director of Pregnant then Screwed, said elective Caesarean rates increased from 15% to 24%: "Women were requesting severe surgery simply so their partner could be there."

Suzanne Tyler, from the Royal College of Midwives, agreed that London hospitals were badly affected by staff shortages.

"At its worst, staffing was 40% down," she said. "The babies didn't stop coming during Covid but services did have to be rationalised."

Dr Tyler, who said the pandemic "ended up pitting midwives against women", criticised "confusing... contradictory" advice from the government and NHS England that "kept changing".

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Source: BBC News, 26 July 2022

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Covid outbreak at Somerset hospital linked to 18 deaths

COVID-19 may have contributed to the deaths of 18 people who contracted the infection while being treated at Weston general hospital in Somerset, an investigation has found. The layout of the hospital and the proximity of staff and other patients who had Covid but were asymptomatic may have been among the reasons for the 18 people acquiring the virus.

The hospital temporarily stopped accepting new patients, including into its A&E department, on Monday 25 May following a Covid outbreak among patients. It fully reopened on 18 June.

As part of its investigation, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS foundation trust identified 31 patients who died after contracting Covid while they were in-patients from 5-24 May. A detailed review of each of the cases was undertaken and it concluded that in 18 patients, the infection may have contributed to their death.

Dr William Oldfield, the trust’s medical director, said: “We are deeply sorry for this. We are already in contact with the families of these patients and have informed them of the outcome of the review. We have apologised unreservedly and have offered them support."

“For each family concerned, we will undertake an investigation into the specific circumstances that led to the death of their loved one. We will invite them to help inform the investigation to ensure that any questions they have are addressed. We recognise that other patients and families may have concerns and we would like to provide reassurance to everyone that the safety of our patients and staff continues to be our main priority.”

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Source: The Guardian, 10 September 2020

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Covid online symptom checker 'may delay treatment'

The NHS Covid symptom checker has been criticised by a study which found it may not pick up some people who are seriously ill. By being told to stay at home rather than consult a doctor, they may not receive treatment quickly enough.

NHS Digital says the 111 online service, used more than 3.9 million times in the past year, is not a diagnostic tool. The symptom checker has been constantly revised and updated, it adds.

The NHS 111 online Covid symptom checker asks a series of set questions about symptoms in order to offer people advice on their condition and what to do next.

The study, in BMJ Health and Care Informatics, used 50 simulated cases to compare online checkers used during the pandemic from four countries - UK, US, Japan and Singapore.

It found the symptom checkers used by the UK and US were half as likely to advise people to consult a doctor as the systems used in Japan and Singapore. Japan and Singapore also had the lowest case fatality rates of the four nations.

Despite improvements in the safety of the NHS 111 symptom checker since the research was carried out in April, the researchers said they still have "ongoing concerns".

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Source: BBC News, 9 March 2021

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Covid no longer the leading cause of death in England and Wales

Covid-19 has dropped out of the top five leading causes of death in England and Wales for the first time since the start of the pandemic, figures show.

Coronavirus was recorded as the main cause of death for 22,454 people in 2022, or 3.9% of all deaths registered, making it the sixth leading cause overall.

In both 2020 and 2021 Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, with 73,766 deaths (12.1% of the total) and 67,350 (11.5%) respectively.

By contrast, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was the leading cause in England and Wales in 2022, with 65,967 deaths registered (11.4% of the total), up from 61,250 (10.4%) in 2021.

The other causes in the top five were ischaemic heart diseases (59,356 deaths and 10.3% of the total); chronic lower respiratory diseases (29,815 deaths, 5.2%); cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and aneurysms (29,274 deaths, 5.1%); and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer (28,571 deaths, 5.0%).

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Source: The Independent, 11 April 2023

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Covid lockdown blamed for deaths of more than 3,000 people with diabetes

A lack of diabetes checks following the first Covid lockdown may have killed more than 3,000 people, a major NHS study suggests.

Those with the condition are supposed to undergo regular checks to detect cardiac problems, infections and other changes that could prove deadly.

But researchers said a move to remote forms of healthcare delivery and a reduction in routine care meant some of the most crucial physical examinations did not take place during the 12 months following the first lockdown.

Experts said the findings showed patients had suffered “absolutely devastating” consequences and were being “pushed to the back of the queue”.

The study, led by Prof Jonathan Valabhji, the national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, links the rise in deaths to a fall in care the previous year.

It showed that, during 2020/21, just 26.5% of diabetes patients received their full set of checks, compared with 48.1% the year before.

Those who got all their checks in 2019-20 but did not receive them the following year had mortality rates 66% higher than those who did not miss out, the study, published in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, found.

The study shows that foot checks, which rely on physical appointments, saw the sharpest drop, falling by more than 37%.

“The care process with the greatest reduction was the one that requires the most in-person contact – foot surveillance – possibly reflecting issues around social distancing, lockdown measures, and the move to remote forms of healthcare delivery,” the study found. Those in the poorest areas were most likely to miss out.

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Source: The Telegraph, 30 May 2022

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Covid lab returned four positive results from 2,400 Sheffield tests

The laboratory at the centre of the Covid testing fiasco returned just four positive results out of more than 2,400 tests sent to it from one city, the Guardian has learned, raising questions about why it was not discovered sooner.

The positivity rate of just 0.2% from Sheffield tests sent to the Wolverhampton lab run by Immensa contrasts sharply with the national rate of about 5-8% at the time of the scandal.

Data released under freedom of information laws by Sheffield city council showed there were four positive results, 2,391 negative and 13 void results processed by the lab from 1 September until it was suspended in mid-October.

The disclosure also shows the scandal covers local authorities as far away from Wolverhampton as Yorkshire, with the UK Health Security Agency refusing to disclose which areas are affected beyond saying they are mostly in south-west England.

One expert suggested there should have been about 200 positive results based on prevalence figures from the time. Kit Yates, a senior lecturer in mathematics at Bath University, said the country needed to see a full list of all the walk-in/drive in centres that were affected.

“It’s all well and good notifying those people who were tested, but because of the nature of this communicable disease, this scandal now reaches well beyond those people,” he said. “The public deserve to know if their area was affected.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2021

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Covid jab skipped by 44%, entire UK study finds

More than 7,000 Covid-related hospital admissions could have been prevented in the UK in the summer of 2022 if the population had received the full number of jabs recommended, according to research in The Lancet.

Some 44% of the UK population was under-vaccinated, with younger people among the most likely to skip doses.

In a first, health records for everyone over five in the UK were analysed. The same approach could now be used to understand other diseases.

The entire population of the UK is 67 million, and all those over the age of five had their anonymised electronic health data analysed for The Lancet study.

With about 40,000 severe hospital admissions related to Covid during that summer, the research estimates that more than 7,000 - 17% - would have been avoided if everyone had taken up the offer of the vaccine and booster doses for which they were eligible.

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Source: BBC News, 16 January 2024

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Covid jab clinics held for people with learning disabilities

Two specialist Covid vaccination clinics for people with learning disabilities are to be held in Leicestershire.

Local health bosses said the sessions would provide a calm environment, longer appointment times and extra support.

They will take place at Loughborough Hospital later and at Leicester's Peepul Centre on 15 December.

Pre-booked visitors can receive their first, second or booster jabs.

Sam Screaton, learning disability vaccination clinical lead at the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, said: "It is extremely important to us to ensure the Covid-19 vaccines and boosters are accessible to everyone.

"All staff working at these clinics will go the extra mile to ensure patients feel comfortable, calm and able to have the vaccine."

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Source: BBC News, 30 November 2021

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Covid inquiry: what stage is it at and what will it look at?

The Covid-19 Inquiry is a public inquiry to examine the UK’s response to the pandemic, as well as its wide-sweeping impact.

In the UK, at least 216,726 people have had Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate since the start of the pandemic.

Multiple lockdowns, school closures and furloughs later, a public inquiry aims to gauge what lessons can be learned for the future.

Two preliminary hearings have already taken place on 28 February and 1 March. The next one will be on 21 March and will cover Scotland, including strategic issues, political governance, lockdowns and restrictions. The inquiry is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge.

The inquiry has been split into three modules: resilience and preparedness, core UK-decision making; political governance, and the impact of Covid-19 on healthcare systems across the UK.

In Spring 2022, the inquiry held a public consultation on its draft terms of reference which allowed people to give their opinions on the topics the inquiry would cover.

The public inquiry has come under heavy criticism after it was announced that structural racism will not be explicitly considered.

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Source: The Independent, 2 March 2023

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Covid inquiry: Race should be at its core, say campaigners

Race should be made a central part of the UK's independent public inquiry into the pandemic, campaigners say.

A letter seen by BBC News, sent to the chairwoman of the Covid-19 inquiry, calls for it to look at "racism as a key issue" at every stage.

Ethnic minorities were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19, according to official figures.

An inquiry spokesperson said the unequal impacts of the pandemic would be at the forefront of its work.

People from ethnic minority backgrounds who lost loved-ones during the pandemic also told BBC News they felt "sidelined" by the process so far.

The letter to Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, has been co-ordinated by the group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and race equality think tank Runnymede. It calls for ethnic minority communities to be "placed firmly at the centre" of the inquiry.

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Source: BBC News, 28 February 2023

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Covid inquiry: Families unhappy with Welsh government

Bereaved families of coronavirus victims feel the Welsh government has not adequately taken part in the Covid public inquiry, their solicitor says.

Craig Court, who represents bereaved families, said the Welsh government had not participated "as well as they should have".

He claimed the Welsh government failed to deliver crucial paperwork with just days to go before Tuesday's inquiry. The UK-wide inquiry could go on as long as three years, and will predominantly look at the UK government's approach to the pandemic.

A Wales-specific inquiry was blocked by Labour members of the Senedd, with First Minster Mark Drakeford saying it should wait until after the UK-wide investigation had been completed.

Mr Court told BBC Wales "there is a great concern over the duty of candour" displayed by the Welsh government.

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Source: BBC News, 9 June 2023

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Covid inquiry: Ex-minister challenged on plan for disabled people

An ex-minister has defended the government's approach to disabled people during the pandemic, following claims they were "largely disregarded".

Justin Tomlinson, a former minister for disabled people, told the Covid inquiry the government recognised this group was at greater risk from the virus.

He added that work had been done "at pace" to address this.

The inquiry has previously been told that disabled people's views were not properly heard ahead of key decisions.

Nearly six out of 10 people who died with coronavirus in England from January to November 2020 were disabled, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In a witness statement published earlier this month, chief executive of charity Disability Rights UK, Kamran Mallik, said: "From the statements, decisions and actions of the UK government throughout the crisis, considerations relating to disabled people appeared to be largely disregarded."

In his evidence earlier this month, Mr Mallik of Disability Rights UK said there was a "shocking disregard" when it came to providing information in alternative formats for disabled people, including letters on shielding for clinically vulnerable groups.

He said his charity had also raised concerns about protections for care home residents, and help for disabled people who were not shielding but still needed support accessing food and essentials.

Mr Mallik added that there had been no consultation to allow the views of charities or disabled people to be "properly heard before decisions were made".

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Source: BBC News, 8 November 2023

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Covid Inquiry: Bodies were treated like toxic waste, says daughter

The bodies of people who died with Covid were treated like "toxic waste" and families were left in shock, a bereaved woman has told the inquiry.

Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees said her father Ian died "gasping for breath" after catching the virus while in hospital.

Ms Marsh-Rees, who leads Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, said he was "zipped away", and his belongings put in a Tesco carrier bag.

Ian Marsh-Rees died after catching the virus while in hospital, aged 85. His daughter said finding information regarding his care in hospital and how he became infected was "almost like an Agatha Christie mystery".

She said no GP ever suggested he might have Covid, although she now knows his discharge notes said he had been exposed to Covid.

"It wasn't until we saw his notes some months later that we saw the DNA CPR (do not attempt CPR) placed on him, and this was without consultation with us," she said.

"It kind of haunts us all that… people used to say 'well they're in the right place' when they go to hospital. I'm not sure they would say that any more," Ms Marsh-Rees said.

She now wants to change the way deaths are handled by health boards. She said it was important to prepare families before and support them after the death of a loved one, from palliative care to dignity in death.

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Source: BBC News, 18 July 2023

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Covid inquiry told Treasury blocked NHS bed request

Boris Johnson’s government blocked a request to fund another 10,000 hospital beds at the height of the Covid pandemic, the chief executive of NHS England has said.

Amanda Pritchard told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry the decision, made by the Treasury in July 2020, had been “very disappointing”.

Extra beds and staff would have been used to cut waiting lists for planned care and “build resilience” going into a second winter wave of the pandemic, she said.

The government has said it cannot comment while the inquiry is in progress.

Ms Pritchard served as NHS England’s chief operating officer from 2019 until she was promoted to chief executive, in August 2021.

In her evidence, she said a request had been made to the government, for 10,000 extra permanent, staffed hospital beds, in July 2020.

The demand had been based on modelling the spread of the virus, along with the need to deal with other pressures that coming winter and resume more planned, or elective, surgery and other treatments for non-Covid patients.

But the inquiry heard the Treasury and the prime minister’s private office had refused the request, saying they wanted more use made of temporary Nightingale hospitals along with the private sector.

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Source: BBC News, 11 November 2024

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Covid inquiry told top NHS doctor was terrified

The most senior doctor in NHS England has said he was "personally terrified" that hospitals could have been overwhelmed in the early stages of the pandemic.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis told the Covid inquiry officials had drawn up a draft document advising whose care should be prioritised if the NHS found itself unable to cope with the surge in patients.

The 'Covid-19 decision tool' assigned points based on a patient's age, frailty and underlying conditions. A high score meant they might not be admitted to intensive care if services were overwhelmed.

The tool was never issued publicly, after it became clear infections might have already reached a peak in March 2020.

Sir Stephen, who still serves as national medical director at NHS England, said the senior clinicians who were asked to draw up the plans at short notice "did a magnificent job" that "nobody ever wants to do".

"But it became absolutely clear to me that this was going to be controversial, [and] that it hadn't had the opportunity to be discussed more widely with patient groups, [or] with the public," he added.

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Source: BBC News, 7 November 2024

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Covid inquiry told of trust do-not-resuscitate rule

At least one NHS trust put in place a blanket "do-not-resuscitate" order for sick patients in the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has heard.

It would mean individuals were considered ineligible for potentially lifesaving CPR, solely on the basis of age or disability, without being individually assessed.

Former Resuscitation Council UK president Prof Jonathan Wyllie said he knew of one trust implementing the policy, although he had not seen a document setting it out.

Groups representing the families of people who died from Covid said they were “horrified but not surprised”.

Under NHS guidance, a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNCPR) order can be added to someone's medical notes after consultation with the patient or their family members.

It means medical staff will not attempt chest compressions or defibrillation, where an electric shock is applied to restore normal heart rhythm, if the patient's heart or breathing stops.

Groups representing bereaved families believe some hospital departments became so overwhelmed in the pandemic that blanket DNACPR rules were applied, based solely on age, disability or medical condition.

At the time, the charity Mencap said some people with learning disabilities had reported being told they would not be resuscitated if taken ill with Covid.

NHS England says a blanket DNACPR rule for every person with a specific medical condition or over a certain age would be unlawful.

It wrote to NHS trusts a number of times during the pandemic, external, to remind clinicians the orders should only ever be applied with the "appropriate consent".

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Source: BBC News, 10 October 2024

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Covid inquiry told how putting on PPE delayed treatment of dying patients

Dying patients experienced vital delays in being treated by paramedics because of the time it took ambulance crews to put on protective personal equipment, the Covid inquiry has been told.

An ambulance technician, Mark Tilley, came close to tears on Tuesday as he described how the experience still “played on his mind”.

Ambulance crews had been told they could not put on PPE before arriving at the scene and had to wait to put on plastic Tyvek suits and protective hoods or masks.

Tilley told the inquiry that the delays could cost crews vital minutes before they were able to start treatment. “We could have actually been at the patient’s side a minute, minute and a half quicker in those really most serious cases,” he said.

“Turning up at people’s houses where someone was unfortunately dead inside the front window or just on the pathway up to their property … I would have normally gone over and started bouncing up and down on their chest [to perform CPR], but we went and got our masks and suits on, and all of that – that plays on my mind all the time.”

Tilley, an ambulance technician at South East Coast ambulance service who was giving evidence as a representative of the GMB union, also described how the inadequate PPE made him consider making his own protective equipment.

Aprons were so poorly made and in such short supply, he said, that “we seriously considered using bin bags and literally cutting a hole in them, because that way they wouldn’t blow up in front of your face” when outside.

In addition to flimsy aprons, protective gloves were out of date, “really cheap and nasty”, and ripped and tore easily.

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Source: The Guardian, 1 October 2024

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Covid inquiry to look at impact on care services

The Covid inquiry will start examining the impact of the pandemic on care services for elderly and disabled people on Monday.

Bereaved families say they have been waiting for this moment for years, describing the way Covid swept through care homes as one of the clearest and most devastating failures of the pandemic.

Nearly 46,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales between March 2020 and January 2022, many of them in the early weeks of the pandemic.

The government says it supports the inquiry and is committed to learning lessons from it.

There are key questions families and care staff want answering, including why the decision was made in March 2020 to rapidly discharge some hospital patients into care homes.

They blame this, in part, for seeding the virus into care homes in the early stages of the pandemic.

There are also questions about blanket "do not resuscitate" notices being placed on some care home residents by medical services, and about visiting policies which prevented families seeing their loved ones for months.

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Source: BBC News, 30 June 2025

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Covid inquiry rejects clinicians’ anonymity plea

The chair of the Covid inquiry has refused an application from the UK Health Security Agency to keep the identities of two junior clinicians secret.

Lawyers for UKHSA applied for an order preventing publication of their names, on the grounds they could be subject to abuse and harassment on social media and in person.

Both individuals attended Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Cell meetings to discuss the guidance on masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

Baroness Hallett ruled their names could be published in minutes of those meetings, as any risk was outweighed by the public interest in reporting on the group's work.

From February 2020 until it was disbanded in 2022, guidance on the use of PPE in healthcare settings was drawn up by the IPC Cell, a group of clinicians and officials from the NHS, government and public-health bodies such as Public Health England, which then Health Secretary Matt Hancock replaced with UKHSA in 2021.

Critics have said the IPC Cell was too slow to strengthen its recommendations on PPE after it became clear Covid could be spread by tiny airborne particles.

The Covid-19 Airborne Transmission Alliance (CATA), a group made up of healthcare organisations and individuals which campaigned for stronger guidance, has called it a “shadowy” organisation with “unclear” accountability structures.

UKHSA said the “heated and aggressive” public discourse around the subject meant there was a “high likelihood” junior members of staff could face online abuse if they were named in minutes published by the inquiry.

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Source: BBC News, 26 September 2024

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Covid inquiry prepares for first hearing after 220,000 deaths

More than three years after Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown, the Covid investigation will cover every aspect of the UK’s pandemic response.

More than three years after the first lockdown began, two years after the last one ended, the public hearings are at last starting. Over the months that come the inquiry will have many questions to answer. Should we have locked down earlier? Should we have not locked down at all? Did we eat out to help restaurants out, or eat out to help the virus out? Could more have been done to protect care homes from infection? Should more have been done to protect residents from loneliness?

Baroness Hallett, the judge presiding, said her chief role is “to determine whether [the] level of loss,” in the broadest sense of the word, “was inevitable or whether things could have been done better”.

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Source: The Times, 13 June 2023

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Covid inquiry must look at NHS 111 ‘mishandling’, bereaved families say

The inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic should look at the “mishandling” of the NHS 111 service, families bereaved during the crisis have said.

In a scathing report, the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said the service was inappropriately used to “alleviate the burden on the NHS” with “horrific” consequences.

The report, based on a survey of families, said many believed that the service “failed to recognise how seriously ill their relatives were and direct them to appropriate care”.

They argue that the service was also quickly “swamped” during the first wave despite the addition of 700 new call handlers, many of who were making life or death decisions with just 10 weeks training.

The phone line is one of a number of areas the groups want the government’s inquiry to cover. Other areas include No 10’s level of pandemic preparedness, particularly PPE shortages, as well as an investigation into the disproportionate impact on ethnic minority groups and those with disabilities.

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Source: The Independent, 30 November 2021

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Covid inquiry hears of care home 'slaughter'

A civil servant's assertion that there was a "generational slaughter within care homes" in the early days of the pandemic is a phrase that "chimes with the experience of thousands of our families", the Covid inquiry has heard.

Pete Weatherby, barrister for the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said the phrase might seem an exaggeration but it highlighted issues the inquiry must address.

His opening statement came on the first day of the sixth part of the Covid inquiry which will focus on the impact of the pandemic on care services for elderly and disabled people.

The government has said it is committed to learning lessons from the inquiry.

Mr Donaldson's evidence also describes "complete chaos" in the Department of Health and Social Care when he started working there in April 2020, soon after the start of the pandemic.

Nearly 46,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales between March 2020 and January 2022, many of them in the early weeks of the pandemic.

Key questions the families hope the inquiry will answer include why the decision was made in March 2020 to rapidly discharge some hospital patients into care homes.

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Source: BBC News, 30 June 2025

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Covid inquiry first preliminary hearing to begin

The first preliminary hearing of the UK Covid public inquiry will begin today.

The session, in London, will focus on the UK's pandemic preparedness before 2020. It will be largely procedural, involving lawyers and an announcement about who will be giving evidence. Public hearings where witnesses are called will not start until the spring.

The inquiry formally started in the summer, with a listening exercise.

But this first preliminary hearing is still being seen as an important milestone for the families who lost loved ones.

Lindsay Jackson's mother, Sylvia, 87, died from Covid during the first lockdown, after contracting it at a care home.

Ms Jackson, of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group, said it was essential lessons were learned.

She was "really pleased" the inquiry was finally starting but it had taken too long to reach this stage. 

"It's two-and-a-half years since the pandemic started," she said.

"We lost so many people. If people have done things wrong, they need to be held accountable.

"For me, my family and the others who lost loved ones, it's important that answers are found to the questions that we have."

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Source: BBC News, 4 October 2022

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Covid inquiry broadens scope to include children

The scope of the UK public inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic has widened to include a focus on children.

When the draft terms were published in March, there was criticism that they failed to even mention the impact on children and young people. But after a public consultation, the final terms have been published and now incorporate the effect on the health, wellbeing and education of children.

The final terms of reference were decided following a four-week public consultation on the draft terms.

As well as expanding the terms to include the impact on the health, wellbeing and education of children and young people, the inquiry will also look at the wider mental health impact across the population.

The focus on inequalities will also be strengthened, the inquiry said, so that the unequal impact on different sections of society will be considered at all stages.

Alongside these issues, the UK-wide inquiry will also look at the following issues which were included originally:

  • the UK's preparedness for the pandemic
  • the use of lockdowns and other "non-pharmaceutical" interventions, such as social distancing and the use of face coverings
  • the management of the pandemic in hospitals and care homes
  • the procurement and provision of equipment like personal protective equipment and ventilators
  • support for businesses and jobs, including the furlough scheme, as well as benefits and sick pay.

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Source: BBC News, 12 May 2022

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