North Wales families call for a Wales specific covid inquiry

The public inquiry into the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact, has begun in London.

The inquiry has been set up following criticism of the UK government’s handling of the pandemic, including the fact the country seemed to lack a thorough plan for dealing with such a major event.

Other criticisms levelled at the Government include discharging elderly people from hospitals to care homes without testing, locking down too late in March 2020 and failures of NHS test and trace.

READ MORE: Life in A&E at Glan Clwyd Hospital after scathing reports and ‘two years of hell’

Despite calls for a Wales specific inquiry from opposition parties and the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group (CBFJ) Welsh government have refused. 

Sylvia Parry, is a member of the CBFJ living in Denbighshire believes there should be an independent inquiry.

She said: "We need our own inquiry because throughout the whole pandemic we had completely different rules."

Sylvia's father, Douglas Miles passed away on March 29th 2020 at Holywell Community Hospital. 

Sylvia Parry with her father Douglas Miles (Image: Sylvia Parry)

After recovering from an operation Mr Miles was meant to be returning home in March 2020 before he caught the virus. 

Sylvia continued: "There was no PPE at the time and my father was just a sitting duck in the hospital."

Sylvia believes that the government acted too late in protecting those who were vulnerable against the virus. 

She added: "Even I could see, something was happening and I am so thankful I stopped my mother going to visit two weeks before. 

"My mother and father would have been married 60 years a few weeks after he passed away."

Douglas Miles (Image: Sylvia Parry)

Mrs Parry lives on the border of Denbighshire and remembers a time that rules restricted passage between counties, which for her meant being unable to pass the walkable distance into Flintshire. 

She said: "I think because the Senedd did things differently to England and we had different rules - why should we come under the same umbrella because we didn't experience the same pandemic restrictions.

"We are a different country so why not let the people of Wales get a few more answers about their loved ones?."

This is a question echoed by Carl Griffiths who lost his mum, Megan Griffiths in November 2020 at the Maelor Hospital in Wrexham. 

Carl currently has a complaint launched with Betsi Cadwaldar regarding the preparedness of staff and questions surrounding his mother's death. 

However, he is concerned that if there is only a UK wide inquiry more families in Wales will be without answers and "Wales will be a side note". 

Carl Griffiths, lives in Wrexham with his family and says the loss of his mother and questions surrounding her death has "mentally and physically took a lot" out of him and his family. 

Mr Griffiths said: "Certain aspects of the inquiry need to be localised as so many questions need answering for the families that have lost someone."

Mr Griffiths has heavily criticised the overall preparedness of the Maelor in dealing with the covid-19 pandemic. 

Mr Griffiths has also criticised the hospital's actions in dealing with his initial complaint and queries which were lodged in August 2021 to which he did not receive any response until after March the following year. 

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board deputy CEO and executive director of integrated clinical services, Gill Harris said: “I’m sincerely sorry for Mr Griffiths and his family’s loss in during what must have been a truly heartbreaking situation.

“The health board has fully responded to Mr Griffiths’ concerns and Wrexham Maelor’s Head of Nursing and general manager have subsequently discussed these with him.

“The review undertaken found that it was impossible to confirm if Mrs Griffiths was already incubating Covid-19 when she was admitted or whether it was acquired in her first few days in hospital from another patient who had displayed symptoms. It did, however, reveal some points of learning for us as an organisation around our communication.

“These lessons have been used to make sure staff are fully aware of the importance of good and timely communication with families, especially during a period when they cannot be physically present to support loved ones.

“We accept we should have responded to Mr Griffith’s complaint more quickly than we did and I apologise on behalf of the health board for this and our failure to communicate more effectively with his family at the time his mother was in hospital.

“Finally, the period in question was also extremely heartrending for staff – who were dealing with an exceptional set of circumstances during a, hopefully, once in a lifetime pandemic.

“I continue to pay tribute for their selflessness and bravery in tackling everything they did during that uncertain period – while accepting we must all learn from these events so we can improve care.”