People power: lessons from the healthcare response to the Grenfell Tower fire (King's Fund, 9 September 2024)

Summary

The fire in Grenfell Tower in June 2017 was a preventable tragedy that claimed 72 lives. The event has had a devastating impact – not only in terms of loss of life, but also the trauma and displacement that former residents and the wider community have experienced since the fire.

A new report from the King's Fund, People power: lessons from the health care response to the Grenfell Tower fire, documents the experiences of people from the community and those responsible for commissioning and providing health care services in the area in the months and years after the fire.

The report shows how the community fought to bring their voice to the response, the importance of listening to those voices, and what this meant for how services were provided and commissioned in the area. Grenfell was not a unique event, and many of the lessons learnt and the findings of this report can be applied across the healthcare sector, up and down the country.