‘Our dad would still be alive if government acted quicker over virus...’
LAWYERS FOR 500 BEREAVED RELATIVES CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE PUBLIC INQUIRY
LAWYERS representing around 500 bereaved relatives of coronavirus victims have called for an immediate public inquiry into the government’s handling of the crisis.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group say an urgent review is necessary to prevent more deaths.
A formal petition to the government from the group argues that there is ‘a compelling need to set up the inquiry immediately.’
It adds: “There is a widely-held public belief that the government is making wrong decisions in this crisis and that government errors have cost and will continue to cost lives.”
Shaun Brady, from Hindley, Wigan, died on May 16 after six weeks on a ventilator in intensive care.
His daughters Tasha and Hannah said, before their father contracted the virus, he was fit and healthy and would spend hours walking outside.
Speaking to the M.E.N. about their decision to call for the inquiry, Hannah, 24 said: “If not for the government’s lack of response in the first few months I firmly believe my dad would still be alive.”
Shaun was a key worker at the Heinz factory in Wigan and had been working until April 2, when he was rushed to hospital via ambulance.
Three days later he was taken to intensive care with Covid-19, where he stayed until the May 16 – when his daughters took the painful decision to turn his ventilator off.
“My dad was 55 and my sister and I should not have had to of made those decisions,” Hannah said. “If we had lockdown earlier or quarantined holidaymakers arriving in the UK, I believe my dad would not have got coronavirus or died.”
Hannah says she and her sister are pushing for the immediate inquiry to save the lives of others if there is a second wave of the virus.
“If the government can acknowledge that things were done too slowly then at least with a second wave we could save more lives than if they carry on the course they are on,” she added.
The group’s lawyer Elkan Abrahamson suggested an inquiry could be led by a High Court judge, supported by expert assessors, to examine issues such as returning children to school, personal protective equipment (PPE) provision and care home policy.
He told the M.E.N.: “What the inquiry wouldn’t be looking at is past decisions which aren’t impacting on the present situation.
“For instance ‘Was the lockdown introduced two weeks to late?’ That’s something that can be looked at in the long term.
“The main point is asking what the government is going to and what is it about to do in the future?
“Can they justify the science they are relying on and ultimately do we think they are doing the right things?”
The group’s request comes after
Scotland’s former chief scientific adviser Professor Dame Anne Glover said an inquiry must be held before a second wave of the virus hits the UK.
Prof Glover, who is now president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, said last week: “Given that second wave is likely to come at a time that is likely to coincide with seasonal influenza, and that would give us serious problems, we really need to understand what the failings have been in our apparent inability to be able to deal with this pandemic appropriately.
“This inquiry needs to be delivering in a matter of months, not a matter of years, because the purpose of it is to ensure we do not make the same mistakes should we get a second wave of the virus.”
A Government spokesperson said: “At some point in the future there will be an opportunity for us to look back, to reflect and to learn some profound lessons.
“But at the moment, the most important thing to do is to focus on responding to the current situation.”