{"id":49662,"date":"2021-02-24T17:57:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T16:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=49662"},"modified":"2021-10-24T11:10:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T10:10:40","slug":"john-puntis-we-need-a-peoples-covid-19-inquiry-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/24\/john-puntis-we-need-a-peoples-covid-19-inquiry-now\/","title":{"rendered":"John Puntis: We need a people\u2019s covid-19 inquiry now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a powerful <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.n314\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">plea for justice<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Kamran Abbasi suggests in an Editorial in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The BMJ<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the consequences of government mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic amount to \u201csocial murder.\u201d However, it is clear that those in power aim to avoid any scrutiny that might result in severe criticism. Ministers plan to delay any inquiry until such a time that this will pose no political threat and has become largely irrelevant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-politics-53419544\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In July<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, responding to bereaved families, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, stated <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">now was not the right time for an investigation but there would &#8220;certainly&#8221; be one &#8220;in the future&#8221; so lessons could be learnt.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0He later made it clear this would not happen until the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/politics\/boris-johnson-coronavrius-inquiry-when-delay-covid-b1347664.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pandemic\u00a0was beaten, despite<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> MPs pleading for mistakes not to be repeated. In January 2021 he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/politics\/boris-johnson-coronavirus-inqury-pandemic-b1790008.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">again reiterated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that it would not be &#8220;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sensible&#8221; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to divert government resources away from the fight against covid-19. Did he reject the possibility that an inquiry might actually assist in this fight because he had been <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.n137\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">transferring his failures<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> onto the public?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Johnson has talked of health staff having to make impossible decisions about which patients should or should not receive intensive care when demand outstrips resources, yet rejected the notion of providing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/372\/bmj.n164\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">legal protection<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for those put in this situation. This is presumably because of fear that to do so would be seen as acknowledging that government strategy has failed and the NHS was not protected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While there are some who defend the Westminster government\u2019s response, few, other than perhaps misguided <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.covidfaq.co\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">lockdown sceptics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, dare argue that it represents some kind of exemplar. With nearly 120 000 deaths, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/discover\/news\/excess-death-toll-in-care-homes-from-covid-19-hugely-underestimated\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">29 000 in care homes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and almost 900 health and care staff, we stand near the top of the world league table for mortality, worse even than the United States. Untold damage has been done to mental health, the educational prospects of children, people\u2019s living standards, and the health of those with non-covid related illness. Social inequalities have been thrown into sharp relief, particularly by the pandemic&#8217;s disproportionate adverse effects on ethnic minority communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A policy of virus suppression continues to be pursued in England despite evidence from countries such as New Zealand suggesting far better health and economic outcomes from a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/371\/bmj.m4907\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">covid elimination<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> approach. Large amounts of public money are being wasted on an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/report\/the-governments-approach-to-test-and-trace-in-england-interim-report\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ineffective privatised test and trace system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, ineffective mass testing, and contracts with companies that have failed to deliver\u2014for example on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/press-release\/the-supply-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">personal protective equipment (PPE)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While it became clear that crowding indoors, close proximity, and poor ventilation all contributed towards spread of infection, &#8220;eat out to help out,&#8221; going to the pub, and mixing over Christmas were all encouraged with predictable and dire results. Even now staff are being put at risk because<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.n146\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> PPE guidance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has not been updated in the light of new insights into viral spread, to say nothing of inadequate workplace safety regulations given outbreaks such as the DVLA&#8217;s, which had over <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/jan\/31\/dvla-managers-failed-to-understand-severity-of-deadly-covid-outbreak\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">500 cases<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Healthcare workers have made heroic efforts but will bear the psychological scars for years to come. Whether they will be allowed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2021\/jan\/31\/nhs-months-return-normal-in-england-after-covid-chris-hopson\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">time for respite<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> once the spread of infection is under control remains doubtful; many are considering alternative employment or early retirement. With deaths during a second wave now exceeding those in the first, it is clear that there has been (and remains) no appetite in government for learning necessary lessons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ministers may hope a successful vaccine roll-out will mean their sins are forgiven\u2014while credit for vaccination belongs not to them <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/jan\/19\/britain-vaccination-universal-healthcare-covid-nhs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">but to the NHS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Particular attention still needs to be focused on vulnerable groups that are more difficult to reach, yet currently there is not an inclusive approach that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/jan\/31\/nhs-covid-vaccinations-no-show-data\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">puts health inequalities at its heart<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. How long vaccination will confer protection is unknown, and the threat of further <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/feb\/01\/thousands-in-england-to-be-tested-in-sprint-to-halt-south-african-covid-variant\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">viral mutations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> brings at least the possibility of a variant against which available vaccines will not be protective. All this dictates that a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/jan\/11\/england-covid-crisis-government-magic-bullet\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">raft of measures<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to eliminate community transmission of infection (social distancing; find test, trace, isolate, support; workplace safety, etc.) is still urgently needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abbasi gives <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.n314\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">three possible ways<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of obtaining redress when citizens demand to know &#8220;who will be held accountable?&#8221; There is, however, a fourth way, and that is for citizens to hold their own inquiry. Keep Our NHS Public is convinced that it is in the public interest to learn lessons now so that any necessary actions can be taken sooner rather than at some unspecified point in the future\u2014this we believe will save lives. We stand together with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.covidfamiliesforjustice.org\/?fbclid=IwAR27o0f-fXswY2p32UYiniTKGpr62opNp6H5sMDAY0LTMYmNJ2oj2RLSvZM\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">bereaved families<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and many others calling for justice. We aim to give a voice to all those crying out for accountability. To this end we are launching the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplescovidinquiry.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">People\u2019s Covid Inquiry\u2014<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to find answers to the questions the government lacks courage even to ask.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>John Puntis<\/strong>, retired paediatrician and co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: I am co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a powerful plea for justice, Kamran Abbasi suggests in an Editorial in The BMJ that the consequences of government mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic amount to \u201csocial murder.\u201d However, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/24\/john-puntis-we-need-a-peoples-covid-19-inquiry-now\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":49515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236,18933],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhs","category-peoples-covid-inquiry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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