By Ben Kerrigan-
Welsh families whose relatives died during the Covid-19 pandemic have been told they will be recognised as “core participants” in the UK Covid Inquiry.
The preliminary stages of the hearings began in London on Tuesday, with evidence expected to be heard from next spring.
Welsh families whose relatives died during the Covid-19 pandemic have been told they will be recognised as “core participants” in the UK Covid Inquiry.
The assurance comes as good news to all those affected grieving families, who have long been pushing for an inquiry.
Grieving families have been desperately calling for an independent inquiry into the handling of Covid-19.
Preliminary Stages
The preliminary stages of the hearings began in London on Tuesday, with evidence expected to be heard from next spring.
The Welsh government said a UK-wide inquiry was the best way to understand the experiences of people in Wales.
Groups classed as core participants will be given a formal role to play in the process.
Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru said it was important relatives of those who died in Wales were heard.
“This is a key milestone in our campaign and a huge relief to know that Welsh families will be represented in the UK inquiry.”
She stressed that the group remained concerned the first module of the inquiry would not go far enough in examining the Welsh-specific issues needed to be investigated in depth.
“It is vitally important that the people of Wales can have full confidence that this public inquiry will fully scrutinise decision-making in Wales in respect of Covid-19 and that the experiences and voices of the Welsh people will be properly heard and represented,” Lawyer Craig Court, representing the group said.
Anna is adamant that she caught Covid while at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, after initially being admitted with an infection.
“My father died from hospital-acquired Covid, she said.
“He went in for a gall bladder infection, he moved beds six times in eight days,” she added.
“He was sent home without a retest. They’d had a massive outbreak. He deteriorated rapidly when he went home. He was readmitted, tested positive for covid and died three days later.
“The whole thing was just a nightmare from start to finish and I’m just one of hundreds of stories of dreadful things that happened.”
The Covid inquiry will be chaired by retired judge Baroness Heather Hallett . During the preliminary hearing, there will be a minute’s silence for “the loss and hardship people experienced”.
Most of the first session will be taken up with procedural matters before evidence is heard in Spring 2023.
Baroness Hallett said: “I will be taking evidence next year to build a full picture of the challenges faced by the UK and devolved governments and how each chose to confront them.”
The first module of the inquiry will examine the “resilience and preparedness” of the UK for an event like the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru previously called for this first phase to have a greater emphasis on what happened in Wales.
The second part of the inquiry will consider the decisions made by the Welsh government alongside the other governments of the UK, with evidence heard in Summer 2023.
Ms Marsh-Rees said she hopes the inquiry will have a practical impact, adding: “As a group we are already working with the national bereavement steering group and trying to get change but it’s very difficult without an inquiry to make these recommendations and to get that level of exposure”.
“At the moment, no-one says they’ve done anything wrong at all, they all just say they’ve learnt lessons and they haven’t.
“What’s most alarming is that we’re two and a half years on and I can’t see any lessons that have been learnt.”
Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru has around 500 members and met Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford a number of times during the pandemic, repeatedly calling for a specific Welsh inquiry.
A Welsh government spokesman said: “We are determined to ensure our actions and decisions – and those of other public services in Wales – are fully and properly scrutinised.
“The UK-wide inquiry is best placed to oversee the interconnected nature of the decisions that have been made across the four nations.”
Grops classed as core participants will be given a formal role to play in the process
Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru said it was important relatives of those who died in Wales were heard.
“This is a key milestone in our campaign and a huge relief to know that Welsh families will be represented in the UK inquiry.”
She stressed that the group remained concerned the first module of the inquiry would not go far enough in examining the Welsh-specific issues needed to be investigated in depth.
“It is vitally important that the people of Wales can have full confidence that this public inquiry will fully scrutinise decision-making in Wales in respect of Covid-19 and that the experiences and voices of the Welsh people will be properly heard and represented,” Lawyer Craig Court, representing the group said.