Covid-19 care campaigners blast ruling a ‘slap in the face’
A GROUP set up to campaign for care home residents’ rights during the pandemic has said that not being made a core participant for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry part dealing with social care is the “worst slap in the face”.
Care Home Relatives Scotland (CHRS) hit out at the decision of inquiry chair Baroness Hallett after she ruled the group, as well as CHRS Lost Loved Ones, “did not play a direct and significant role” in matters that she will consider in Module 6 of the inquiry.
This section of work will investigate the impact the pandemic had on the UK adult social care sector.
Baroness Hallett initially ruled that CHRS would not be granted core participant status for this section of the inquiry in January, with this decision then reconsidered on two separate occasions.
After she confirmed her “final decision” not to grant core participant status to the group, CHRS branded the decision “disheartening”, as it questioned if the Inquiry’s findings in this area would be relevant in Scotland “as relatives and residents have no voice”.
CHRS said: “Will we be able to accept any of the inquiry’s conclusions when key witnesses in Scotland are being excluded? It feels like the worst slap in the face we’ve had since we started the campaign four years ago this summer.”
Baroness Hallett said: “I wish to reiterate my deep sympathy to each and every individual who has experienced the tragic loss of a loved one or been impacted as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. While I appreciate the important and commendable work the applicants undertook to advocate on behalf of care home residents and their families during the pandemic, and the evidence that they can provide with regard to impact and the lessons that may be learned from its experience, I consider that they do not meet the criteria in Rule 5.”
She added: “It is not necessary for an individual or organisation to be a core participant in order to provide evidence to the inquiry.”