Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham appeared in the highly anticipated Covid-19 drama ‘Help’ last night on Channel 4, giving the nation a closer look at how care homes were left to fend for themselves during a global pandemic that ripped through their communities. The film confirmed once again one thing we have known to be true all along: The Government has failed care homes.
Informed by the harrowing tales from care homes across the country, ‘Help’ shines a light on the many inexcusable failures of the UK Government to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and those who care for them. Lack of PPE, lack of support, lack of medical assistance, and, of course, lack of any kind of guidance from the Government left carers and their residents stranded, afraid, and at risk.
While the film is a dramatization of the care home situation over the past 18 months, we have learnt from the many stories told by members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group that what we saw on our television screens yesterday evening was anything but fiction.
The Covid Inquiry must start now
There has never been a more important time to start the Covid Inquiry than right now. The more time that passes, the more opportunity the Government has to further mishandle the pandemic and brush off all of their mistakes. As ‘Help’ shows, behind every Covid-19 death, there are countless more lives that have been torn apart by the Government’s actions. They deserve answers, they deserve justice and they deserve it now.
While an Inquiry has been indicated by the Prime Minister, no date has been set and there is still no sign his Government is undertaking the necessary work to assign a Chair or agree on the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry. This is despite continuous pressure and campaigning from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group which represents nearly 5,000 relatives of people who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, including many that died in care homes.
The lack of progress is simply not good enough. It is inhumane to keep those bereaved families who have lost loved ones waiting. We are calling on the Prime Minister to follow the lead of the Scottish First Minister and ensure the UK wide Inquiry starts before the end of 2021
If you have doubted the Government’s mishandling of Covid-19, particularly in relation to care homes, the creators of ‘Help’ offered some sobering and, frankly, horrifying statistics as the feature film came to a close last night.
“Of the 48,213 Covid deaths registered between mid-March and mid-June 2020, 40% were care home residents”
“The government supplied NHS Trusts with approximately 80% of their estimated PPE need between mid-March and mid-July 2020. It supplied the adult care sector with approximately 10% of its estimated need of PPE.”
They deserve justice. The Covid Inquiry must start now.
If you have lost a loved one to Covid-19, you should not have to find answers alone. If you want further information about the upcoming Inquiry and what we are doing to help the bereaved families, visit our Covid Inquiry page.
In the meantime, I’d strongly advise anyone who has suffered a bereavement due to Covid-19 to join the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, as we know that pressure of numbers will be a significant factor in causing the Government to bring the Inquiry forward. Visit our Covid Inquiry FAQ page for answers to some of our commonly asked questions surrounding the Inquiry, next steps, how to instruct legal representation and more.