‘People’s Covid Inquiry’ to highlight deaths in care

Care Champions, a group advocating for improvements for those in care, is launching what it has described as ‘The People’s Covid Inquiry’, which it says will put the voices of families of those who died in hospitals and nursing homes during and since the pandemic to the fore.

People in Cork and elsewhere travelled to Dublin to share their personal stories, which will go live on the Care Champions social media pages.

The group also unveiled a ‘memory wall’ in the Arlington Hotel, where people can write the names of their loved ones who died.

“The People’s Covid Inquiry is a group of people who have come together in order to try and find out what exactly happened, what policies Government used, and how the policies during Covid were implemented or not implemented, and it’s also to look at the experiences of people on the ground — people in nursing homes, people in hospitals, and how Covid really affected all people who use care services,” Care Champions founder Majella Beattie told The Echo.

“We have a group of academics, we have a group of lawyers, researchers, and medical people, and they’re giving their time to us because we have been four years begging Government to look at the tragic loss of life, the tragic impact on people who survived Covid.

“We have been brushed under the carpet, we’ve been ignored, so we now feel that it is time to start standing up for ourselves, and if the Government won’t do it, we will do it.”

The expert group set up to carry out The People’s Covid Inquiry, said Ms Beattie, is now finalising the terms of reference.

“Then we will start setting up processes for people to be able to come forward to give testimony.

“We intend to run it similarly to the Clann Project for mother and baby homes, where they develop and do their research reports for public consumption,” she said.

Ms Beattie said the inquiry will give a voice to people who suffered in care and “make suggestions and lead to reform for people who use care services now and into the future”.

It will, she believes, be a “huge vehicle for change”.

While the Government has announced its intention for an evaluation on the Covid-19 response, Ms Beattie said Care Champions fear this will be “behind closed doors”.

Asked in a parliamentary question before the Dáil’s summer recess for an update on the Government’s plans for a Covid-19 inquiry, Taoiseach Simon Harris said a “comprehensive evaluation” of how the country managed Covid “will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic”.

He said such an evaluation will include a “review of the whole-of-government response to the pandemic” and a “consideration of the health service response covering hospitals, the community, and nursing homes, along with the wider economic and social response”.

“It is intended to have a public element to hear the lived experiences of all society,” he said.

“The review should be undertaken by those independent of the national response and with relevant expertise.

“A consultation with opposition parties and stakeholders has taken place on draft terms of reference. It is intended to bring the terms of reference to Government shortly,” Mr Harris added.