Wales Covid families want answers as inquiry arrives

Accountability is top of the wishlist from the Covid inquiry as it comes to Wales, say bereaved families and those charged with protecting vulnerable people.

Over the next three weeks the focus will largely be on the decisions made by the Welsh government during the pandemic.

From the timings of lockdowns to the rationale of doing things differently to the UK government, the hearings will scrutinise actions taken in Wales.

For many, it will be a chance to hear the justifications for policies that they say left them feeling unsupported and alone.

Ann Richards did not get to say a final goodbye to her husband Eirwyn before he died from hospital-acquired Covid in January 2021.

Ann still wonders if non-urgent healthcare had been fully up and running, could Eirwyn have been discharged sooner, or perhaps even avoided a hospital admission altogether?

Additional rules put in place to reduce the spread of the virus meant there were delays in getting a purpose-built wheelchair – delaying his discharge from hospital.

"I understand there had to be rules in place," said Ann. "But it's the wellbeing of the patients I think they lost a lot of."

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Source: BBC News, 26 February 2024