Blogs

UK Covid-19 Inquiry: how can my organisation share our members’ experiences of the pandemic?

Ben Connah

I am Ben Connah, the Secretary to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. I am responsible for the administration of the Inquiry and supporting the former Court of Appeal judge Baroness Hallett to fulfil her responsibilities as Chair of the Inquiry. I work for her and a key part of my role is making sure our work is independent of the government.

Will the Covid Inquiry give communities the sense of closure we all need?

Jacob Lant

It is fair to say that the Covid Inquiry had a slow start. It took two years between Prime Minister Johnson announcing that we would indeed have an Inquiry in May 2021, and the first public hearing in June this year. In the meantime, “partygate” and other scandals further dented the already low level of public confidence in our country’s leadership, institutions, and legal processes.

Can or should the NHS expect more from patients and communities?

Jacob Lant

The idea of a social contract between the NHS and the public will only work if it is based on a new ongoing, two-way relationship. This must be supported by an acceptance that the knowledge needed to fix our country’s challenges lies in communities.

I trust the NHS with my data. But should you?

Jacob Lant

I very much believe that better use of data by the NHS has the potential to save lives. During the pandemic we saw this very clearly, with the data sharing rules in a national emergency allowing infection rates and outcomes to be tracked, and for the vaccine programme to be targeted more effectively. In peace time too the NHS has begun to use data more effectively, for example the increased use of the summary care records.

Winter planning needs a cultural patient centred shift, not just ambitious targets

Jacob Lant, Stella Vig

In the NHS, summers do not last long, and with each passing year, the planning for next winter gets earlier and earlier. Given the pressures we all experienced last year, NHS England have already written out to systems across the country to set out the plans in emergency and elective care.

“They understand that ‘gut in throat’ moment”: how peer support for a life-changing diagnosis helps people get the right information and make health decisions

Usha Grieve

Compassion in Dying’s ‘Peer Navigator’ project sought to understand how talking to a peer – someone who has walked in similar shoes to you – can help people get the information they need to make decisions about treatment and navigate support.

Health inequalities: Disabled people face huge barriers to accessing sexual, reproductive and cancer-screening healthcare

Lorraine Stanley

Lorraine Stanley, Founder and CEO of SWAD, a training organisation that specialises in the area of disability and sex, puts a spotlight on the many barriers facing disabled people in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare.

National Voices’ asks for Primary Care

As our work advocating for inclusive and person centred care has ramped up in recent years, we have been working hard to use our influence to make what matters to people matter in primary care.

The hidden cost: the cost of living crisis risks leaving people with diabetes storing up health problems for the future

Hannah Poll

Diabetes UK is seeing the impact that the cost of living crisis is having on people who are living with or who are at risk of diabetes. As well as being forced to cut back on essentials in ways which risk their health now, there’s a serious risk that people will be storing up health problems for years to come – and the NHS needs to be prepared for this.

Addison’s Disease Day: support for a rare condition

Philippa Sharman

For Addison’s Disease Day, on 29 May, the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group raises awareness of the support needed for those living with a life-threatening rare condition, and the role of the expert patient.