111 failings ‘ left our loved ones doomed to die’

FAILINGS by the NHS’s 111 service were responsible for ‘many’ deaths during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, bereaved families told MPs yesterday.

Four members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, who each lost their fathers to the virus, gave evidence to the newlyformed All Party Parliamentary Group on coronavirus.

They said they believed their loved ones would be alive if the Government had provided better medical advice, including via the helpline, locked down the country earlier, shut borders and quarantined travellers sooner. In moving testimony, the group revealed they have written to the Prime Minister three times but had so far been refused a meeting with Boris Johnson. They accused the Government of ignoring their plight.

They are demanding an urgent independent judge- led public inquiry to prevent more unnecessary deaths in the event of a second wave of coronavirus.

Jo Goodman, founder of the bereaved families group, whose father, Stuart, 72, contracted the virus the week before lockdown and died on April 2, said many of their 1,450- strong members believed their loved ones struggled to get through to 111, or were told not to go to hospital despite being ‘in the worst condition of their lives’.

‘There is a huge amount of people in our group where the 111 service was telling people to stay at home despite symptoms which were extremely severe,’ she said.

‘People were passing away with no medical intervention other than paracetamol and bedrest.’

Miss Goodman said families had complained that the 111 lines were constantly busy, call handlers had failed to take medical history into account and symptoms were misread or communicated incorrectly, especially where patients did not have English as their first language.

Charlie Williams, whose father Rex, 85, died after contracting the virus in a care home, said the helpline was ‘responsible for many deaths’.

He said black and ethnic minority members of the bereaved families group had told him call handlers had made judgments on irrelevant questions, such as whether their loved one’s lips had turned blue.

‘With a black person, you cannot tell if their lips are blue,’ he said.

The cross-party parliamentary group also heard from members of the so-called ‘Long Covid’ support group, who revealed that as many as 15,000 people who contracted the virus continue to suffer chronic symptoms, including blindness and incontinence, or have been left wheelchair bound months later.

Founder Claire Hastie broke down as she said she used to cycle 13 miles every day to work but now needed a wheelchair to leave the house and has still not returned to her job after contracting the disease in March. The single parent said her three children, aged 16 and twins of 11, had become her carers.

‘Paracetamol and bedrest’