The report will be included in the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry.
A major review into the UK Government’s handling of the pandemic found significant failings in their duty of care to healthcare workers.
The review, undertaken by the British Medical Association (BMA), concludes that the Government failed in its duty of care to protect healthcare workforce from avoidable harm and suffering in its management of the pandemic.
As part of the report, healthcare workers recounted their fears and anxieties as well as laying bare the shortages of PPE, a lack of timely and adequate risk assessments, and the huge impact on their mental and physical health.
The BMA report will be included in the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry.
The report also provides recommendations, including ongoing pandemic preparedness exercises, adequately resourced public health systems, and a stockpile of PPE.
Abandoned and given false assurances.
Publishing the report, the BMA warned, that healthcare workers “worked on the frontline exposed to the virus – while the majority of the public stayed at home during the lockdowns. They saw levels of illness and death they were never trained for.”
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, adds: “Nursing staff were failed by the UK Government time and time again during the pandemic – left without proper PPE, confusing guidance, inadequate testing and the consequences of bad decisions.
“When concerns were raised staff were given false assurances and were often left to fight the virus on their own.
“Fundamental lessons must be learnt from the public inquiry. It will be critical, if we are to truly learn the lessons, for the inquiry to pin down causes and to say clearly where mistakes were made. These mistakes must never be repeated.
“The inquiry must also recognise the sacrifices nursing staff made to protect patients, and the undue risk that they continue to face to this day.”
