Today (July 21st) marked the beginning of the fourth week of publics hearings for the next stage of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Just over three weeks ago, the inquiry, which was originally created in June 2023, turned it’s attention to the social care sector and has since seen workers, patients, loved ones and policymakers talk openly about the effects of the pandemic.
This video showcases the hearings of Professor Sean Holland from Northern Ireland’s Department of Health, Nicola Dickie from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Nadra Ahmed CBE, from the National Care Association. All three individuals gathered at Dorland House in London – the building at which all previous hearings took place.
In the video, Professor Holland reveals Northern Ireland’s care sector massively struggled with a fragile workforce and tight budget throughout the pandemic. The court heard at the start of 2020 1,400 care workers were needed each year to maintain appropriate staffing levels.
During the hearing, Holland, who worked as a chief social work officer with the Department of Health at the time, said: ‘There would have been a fragility in the workforce and there would have been pressures on budgets, because the relationship is that the budget buys the service, which drives the workforce.’
In similar vein, the court also heard care homes in Northern Ireland struggled to implement proper isolation policies for elderly patients who were being discharged from hospitals into their care.
Despite the pressures, death rates within care homes in Northern Ireland remained significantly lower than other UK countries, especially England.
Separate findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show between March and June 2020, around 20,000 care home residents died in England and Wales. In contrast, figures from The Northern Ireland Assembly outline 775 care home residents died because of Covid-19.
At the hearing Holland said: ‘When I say this, this is not in any way to minimise the experience of people who died in care homes in Northern Ireland, and it is not to suggest anything positive about the system…we know you were least likely to die in a care home in Northern Ireland compared to England, Scotland and Wales.’
The reason why more people survived currently remains unknown, though Holland remarked: ‘One thing for future learning is that we have to understand that better.’
This video was created by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and was first published on their YouTube channel.
Photo by Martin Sanchez via UnSplash
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