Analysis comment

Establishment blocks inquests into NHS staff deaths from considering whether lack of PPE was a factor

Doctors say decision will limit visibility and prevent accountability. The government’s guilt and failures must not be whitewashed
Nurses wearing bin-bags and inadequate masks. All 3 subsequently tested positive for virus

Coroners have been ordered to exclude issues of inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) from inquests into the deaths of NHS staff killed by COVID-19.

Chief coroner Mark Lucraft has told has told coroners in England and Wales that:

an inquest would not be a satisfactory means of deciding whether adequate general policies and arrangements were in place for provision of PPE to healthcare workers…

An inquest is not the right forum for addressing concerns about high-level government or public policy.”

Doctors’ Association UK chair Rinesh Parmar told the Guardian:

The provision of PPE is so vital to the safety of health workers that to suggest coroners do not consider its supply in detail misses a big part of the picture.

Only comprehensive inquests into the deaths of every NHS and care worker will give the bereaved the ability to ask questions and have the circumstances of their loved ones’ deaths fully explained.

The lack of PPE has cost not only the lives of approaching 200 health workers, but also of uncounted members of the public who will have become infected in a healthcare setting by people not showing symptoms.

The Department of Health has only just told the NHS to even count how many health workers are dying separately from the overall mortality figures.

SKWAWKBOX view:

Anything other than the full inclusion of all the circumstances of an NHS worker killed by this virus will be an inexcusable whitewash of the consequences of the government’s months-long travesty forcing health staff into virus-ridden areas without adequate PPE.

And that must include not only the Tories’ PPE failures, but the almost-daily changes to Public Health England guidance on what PPE should be worn, to cover for the unforgivable lack of the right equipment.

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22 comments

  1. Just as we raised questions and pointed things out months ago, Starmer could have done same. Starmer and the rest of the Right wing are indulged by the MSM. The Right wing indulge the MSM. Stinking Peas in their stinking pod.
    Hence Starmer & co’s complicit FAILURE to demand prompt answers from Cummings & johnson.🌹🌹🌹

    1. Yep, the establishent are engaging in large scale misinformation and suppression of information on a colossal scale – and Starmer’s New Labour Party Mk2 are incapable of asking any awkard questions to expose it all – least they appear ‘unsupportive of Her Majesty’s government’. Asking the policically neutral question repeatedly as to ‘what is the government’s lockdown exit strategy ‘ repeatedly is the best they can do, whist our health workers are dying in droves, our care homes have become mass dying centres, and government incompetence will lead to the UK unnecessarily having one of the world’s highest coronavirus death rates and totals.

      But then, why the surprise ? With the Trilateral Commission’s , and Progress, Labour First, and Big Business’s man, Starmer, and his Blairite careerist buddies, back in all the controlling positions in the Labour Party (apart from the Gen Sec position – no doubt soon to be returned to a Right Winger of McNicol ilk) , it has already reverted to the previously established operational strategy under Blair and Brown and Miliband. This , nowadays completely suicidal, electoral strategy simply takes the current dominant status quo assumptions, practices, and structures of neoliberal UK capitalism as fixed, and not to be challenged. Labour will only challenge, and then apologetically and pathetically, (as exemplified by the useless Jonathan Ashworth) , the detail operational performances of the Tory government, nitpicking on detail failures, rather than exposing their total responsibility for the weakened state of the NHS after ten years of privatisation and underfunding, and offering an alternative socialist social model for organising society.

      Whilst this electoral strategy might have paid short term electoral dividends for Blair in the New Labour government years, when the inevitable destructive consequences of ever-greater privatisation of the public realm hadn’t yet become clear, and voters were still seduced by the bogus appeal of tax cuts and the illusion of individual aspirational progress, and fooled by the unfulfilled promises of cheaper, more efficient, rail, education power, water, and health services under private sector control, that neoliberal promise is now fully exposed as a sham. But the neoliberal , often personally corrupt, always utterly self-interested careerist, politicians of the Labour Right, at Westminster and local government levels, simply cannot grasp that the Tory-lite Blairite model is now dead electorally, and having permanently lost a huge swathe of its working class heartland voters in 2019, the only route now for a newly recaptured for the neoliberal Right labour Party , is to follow PASOK, the French Socialist Party, and sundry other old European social democratic parties into permanent electoral oblivion.

      So its a waste of time being either surprised or annoyed at the completely craven behavior of that wooden ex DPP, Starmer’s, New Labour reborn neoliberal tory-lite party – that is done and dusted , and Labour simply isn’t coming back from the defeat of the 2015-2019 Corbyn Leftish (actually mainly radical Left Liberal) wave defeat – not ever. Socialists should leave the utterly corrupt from top to bottom Labour Party now before you waste time campaigning to elect yet more corrupt Labour Right careerists – and paying your subs to keep the corrupt Party full-timer saboteurs in post, whilst pathetically still believing the Party can still be ‘recaptured for the Left ‘. Building a socialist alternative will take many, many, years, but transforming Labour into an even mildly socialist party will take FOREVER !

      1. ❌ “Asking the policically neutral question

        ‘what is the government’s lockdown exit strategy ‘ repeatedly”

        “whist our health workers are dying in droves, our care homes have become mass dying centres,”

        “and government incompetence will lead to the UK unnecessarily having one of the world’s highest coronavirus death rates and totals.”

        jpenney, spot on. Questions like the above and starting “what assurance can you give…” are designed to NOT hold the government to account while pretending to do otherwise. An overworked, distracted and worn down”many” are susceptible to the combined MSM effort of deceit.

        The other sinister tactic that works, is put responsibility on the public for failings. There are certain police and ex police officers who collaborate with politicians to that end. One who is ALWAYS on the MSM lobbying for the police to be armed and allowed to act unhindered by laws has a name beginning with B.

        Another is of course Cressida Dick. The same Dick who was outside St Thomas’ observing NO SOCIAL DISTANCING thus showing NO REGARD for the those fighting to save lives inside St Ts’ nor any other hospital. After all, it was Dick who was eased out after her catastrophic command that saw the murder of Jean Charles De Menrzes on Stockwell Tube. Jean Charles while he sat on the tube reading a paper was shot at least SEVEN times in cold blood by officers under Dick’s command. Within minutes the MSM was broadcasting the most slanderous claims about the innocent young man.

        Dick to the horror and surprise of many, was reinstated by Theresa May and gifted a Dame bauble after overseeing at least THREE avoidable terrorists attacks in London alone.

        But it saddens me how some people kick those on their level, as vulnerable as they are, others of the many. That urgently needs change. As ever, it is learned unquestioned attitudes. These THOUSANDS of AVOIDABLE E X C E S S DEATHS are due To this Starmer, Bliar Mandelson enabled Tory outfit🌹🌹🌹

      2. The main problem for the Starmer Gang is the old ‘Vision Thing”. They don’t have any at all! Beyond sneaking into power by brown arsing the RW media and making a slightly less botched job than the Tories but with the same Policies. It isn’t going to be Blair in 1997 or Corbyn in 2017. The masses will not be moved by John Mann bitching nor Mrs Hodge swearing and Phillips shouting.

      3. You are right Paul. They lack vision. They need no vision. A visionless “vision” is entered them or they allow its entry.

        On hearing the vision of Jeremy, i joined to support him. I believe the other 500,000+ also joined WHEN they HEARD his vision echoing ours. Alas, it appears some in high command mistakingly assumed that Jeremy’s previous invisibility, his silence was his winning quality. No. I was amazed when i heard many presenters saying Jeremy alway used to be on their programs. Despite following WMD Blair’s killing of over a million children, women and men in Iraq, i had no memory of Jeremy. NONE. I remember other Stop the War speakers on the radio not Jeremy.

        It appears to me now that Jeremy and his “advisors” did not realise that Beckett nominated him because they thought he would be as unmemorable and invisible as before. She was wrong. But so was Jeremy and his “advisors”. They failed to realise the miraculous accidental nomination was one to grab, win as won and keep running and winning.

        The nomination was a gateway, a window, a flash of opportunity. Because of generations of no down to earth BASIC dissection and understanding of BASIC human nature here and now, the last four years drifted in the currents of the right. We got control of the ship but let the right control the rudder. We had a growing dossier of evidence to keep them busy defending themselves. That was sat on. … for FOUR WHOLE YEARS.

        We had the ship yet because of a failure over 60 years to ever seriously consider governing, rather than complaining, the controllers of the ship did the bidding of bastards, protected them, appeased them, ennobled them, allowed them to win and gave away the control won by over half a million members. The largest party in Western Europe. To fail to reflect on that will condemn us to repetition.

        It was obvious, one by one, the most able and decent people were being picked off by liars, yet not a finger was lifted to defend them.

        It does us no benefit to avoid these truths. These truths demand reflection. Or those errors will be made again. They were not made necessarily because individuals were bad nor even weak. It was partly due to group think. Group culture Group attitude. You can see traces of it in some focusing on the MSM, the illuminati, the Bilderberg group, Trilateral Commissions, Zionist, Eaton pig head interferers, Bullingdon Club thugs etc etc etc.

        Yes those bastards organise and act to seek their interests. But is is illogical to assume even considering the challenge, that it is impossible for us to do same. The MSM did not instruct Jeremy to rescue Twatson nor Ashworth, nor absent himself from the Salmond motion to have Blair sanctioned.

        Just as with johnson and Covid-19, we make choices. Choices may be difficult. They are still choices. Mandela made choices, so did Rosa Parkes, Bolivar, Castro, John Smith, Atlee … we all make choices.

        The most impressive make choices to prepare and stay in the race. Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, Williams Venus and Serena, footballers, runners Bolt … the lists goes on and on. Every single day, in all areas of life, people, prepare, “run” and keep “running” to finish lines. Yes FINISH LINES PLURAL.

        Hundreds of millions of patients are treated and saved despite healthcare teams seeing difficulties PLUS the political and administrative environment. Yet patients recover because multidisciplinary teams work collectively knowing that change is possible. The “Left” needs this cultural attitude urgently. We need to stop running down rabbit holes which blind perfectly able and well meaning people to positive things that CAN be done.

        The world works because of positive attitudes … even irrational positive attitudes. Just think of the incredible things we do every single day. We take lots for granted but only a few years ago many would have considered it impossible to type on a small hand held device, press on the screen and send my typos all around the world.

        We must pursue what we can imagine. Encourage others. Fight intelligently. And if discouraging is our speciality, then deploy it on the Tories Blue and Red. Give them their due, they have no vision but boy do they remain determined and visible. They need a good dose of defeatism and we have too much… lots to spare.

        How often have any heard a Tory Red or Blue mumble? Or pessimistic or saying “we can’t do this or that”??? Even the old ones speak as if they believe people need to hear their views. I’v never had to raise the volume to hear a Tory with no vision. I’v often needed to turn them down or off. They are nearly always loud and clear. Loud about little. Clear about nothing. Comparatively confident but re essence – visionless. TRUE Labour is the alternative. Who said good victories are easy❓❓❓
        We must organise and work for victories.
        Fight with focus. Fight inteligently🌹🌹🌹

      4. ps jpenney, i agree with the extracts from your post above but not with all of it. So to be clear, wish many would campaign for the rightwing to leave our party. that would be helpful. funny that they did not leave. they never do. same with their A side. Soams, May, Clarke, Davis, Hague, all of them. johnson deselected them etc and despite the tears, May was still out campaigning
        for her party. I certainly would NEVER advice anyone to campaign for those who broke party law to work with those who “worked night and day” to “Stop Corbyn” and make Labour lose. But i certainly will never encourage any one to leave our party, money and infrastructure to dastards. There is no logic in that. Further, just as the Tories ignored what we could see in Asia and Europe re Covid-19, so, we too can see the fate of those who pursued the pipe dream of a perfect party … a perfect group of people anywhere. Does anyone really believe a new party will be magically immune from infiltration and defeatist deadweights???

        If we have any sense, we must face reality and the logic that just as the right succeed in winning and keeping power, we too can examine what we MUST do differently. It is illogical to believe they can win but we can’t in our party. It defies logic that in the same country we can establish some ideal party impermeable to the challenges which prevail now.🌹🌹🌹

    2. To date, a minimum of 26,570 NHS hospital TESTED deaths. Many more thousands have been denied testing in and out of hospital.
      Hospital patients with obvious Covid-19 symptoms have been denied tests, said to return WHEN their symptoms get worse. They DIED. Those untested thousands are not included in the 26,570 death figure to be announced later. Nor more thousands denied admission to hospitals and untested.

  2. Disgraceful, we are quickly descending into fascism and I should know. I was born in Francoist Spain and was a teenager when Franco’s died. For those that perhaps would argue that we aren’t descending into fascism, my definition of fascism is the subversion of democratic institutions.
    I will argue that what Johnson is doing with increasing frequency is subverting the democratic institutions of the British State.
    First was trying to prorogue Parliament by lying to the Queen, them is to use Covid-19 to pass legislation that increases the powers of the police while at the same time, removes from the local authorities their duty to provide statutory services that would last for two years (he hopes we will get use to it). Then it removes journalist he doesn’t like from governmental Press Conferences.
    God, I miss Corbyn ! If true if would be the insider Labour top officials that sabotage us from getting a better result in GE 2017 that are responsible for this stage of affairs and for Great Britain descending into fascism with its eyes closed.

    1. Dear Zubiak, “If true if would be the insider Labour top officials that sabotage us from getting a better result in GE 2017 that are responsible for this stage of affairs “.

      Sadly Zubiak, it IS true. You are spot on.
      And bear in mind that the Twenty-six Thousand Five-hundred UK DEATHS 26,500 to be announced later are only NHS hospital TESTED deaths. Thousands have been DENIED tests. Staff have been instructed to not test obviously infected patients. Sick patients have been discharged according to criteria that flies in the face of ANY aim to SAVE LIVES. The “criteria” ate from “on high”, NON CLINICAL managers doing the bidding of politicians.

      That is why all over the world it is now being accepted that since governments like the one here, will attempt to confuse the public, the figures to note are the EXCESS over the norm for the last few years. It is basic logic, that those EXCESS deaths are due to the Starmer enabled Tory government here, and equally base governments abroad. In my opinion, ours are morally worse as they condemn governments abroad, while committing breathtaking negligence at home.🌹🌹🌹

      1. Signpost, I was just saying exactly that to my sister today
        This dictatorship has no right to criticise Russian, Middle Eastern, etc govts
        Not does our MSM have any right in criticising state propaganda outlets
        Truly despicable and desperately sad that lemmings that buy The Scum, The Fail etc and set their watches by BBC news celebrate those politicians that are willing to dance on their graves, believing all the while that Johnson and red and blue tories give a flying spaff for their welfare..

  3. It was always gonna be their next move.

    I’ve been telling people about ‘deniability’ for the last couple of weeks.

  4. I know the country is going crazy, but this does take the biscuit, or in Boris’ case, the pie(s). All across the country, the cloak of secrecy is falling over our public services, trying to cover the last dregs and lights of democracy. You can almost hear them nailing up Britain’s own version of the Iron Curtain. Shame on you Prime Minister, sorry Fuhrer.

    1. But does it REALLY take the p1$$?

      How long have the unemployment figures been fiddled?

      IDS rebuked by the ONS on several occasions – but he ‘believed’ the figures were right, so that’s ok.

      Deaths from suicides after DWP sanctions ”No causal link”

      Ditto from dying within 6 weeks of being found fit for work

      And remember their ‘new’ nurses pledge that included nurses already employed?

      They piss on people and tell them it’s raining, and they’re helped along by the right wing media and especially the bbc who NEVER question figures.

      Talking of, questioning, pissing and the bbc – The last time they did question employment figures dummkopf schmitt accused stephanie flanders of ‘peeing all over british business’ – so the beeb hasn’t done so since)

      And of course the bedroom tax is no such thing…It’s a ‘spare room subsidy’

      This is no different. Oh, sure it’s every bit as abhorrent; perhaps more so – But it’s no more than par for the course for these rat bastards.

      1. Labre, You probably already know that Chris Williamson is hosting it.

  5. Simple problem in terms of inquests : there is no logical way of determining the role of PPE equipment – or lack of – in individual cases.

    So pursuing that angle is simply a waste of time – whilst the bigger picture of government culpability escapes examination as they seize exceptional powers and crash society on the back of fictional science..

    1. If firemen were expected to deal with fires wearing ven gloves, would inquests not have something to say

  6. Let’s see how many coroners have the cajones to stand Up & be counted.

  7. Fred Scuttle is holding the evening briefing, it was the public’s turn to ask questions but the line to ‘Katie from Liverpool’ failed. The question then came on the screen, which appears to show that the public’s questions are pre-selected…. More fixing?

  8. Back to something we can change
    GMB election, how many Corbyn Labour supporters are GMB members

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