ALLIANCE tells Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry of ‘invisible’ and ‘forgotten’ voices of the pandemic
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 1st November 2023
The ALLIANCE’s Chief Officer of Development, Sara Redmond, gave evidence to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
The evidence detailed the experiences of disabled people, people living with long-term conditions, unpaid carers and third sector organisations. In a wide-ranging session, drawing on the ALLIANCE’s extensive engagement and publications on experiences of COVID-19, a theme of people and organisations feeling invisible and forgotten emerged. Topics covered in the session included:
- The experiences of people living with Long Covid, and the barriers to them accessing social support
- Maternity and pregnancy services during COVID-19
- Poor and inaccessible communication and information on COVID-19 which created barriers to accessing services
- The importance of digital choice, rather than digital by default, and the Human Rights Principles for Digital Health and Social Care
- Inappropriate use of DNACPR (Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) notices
- Experiences of people who were shielding, and issues with information and support for them
- The profound impact on unpaid carers
- Long waits for audiology, and other healthcare services
- Social care packages being changed or removed without consultation
- Examples of innovation and new partnership working in social care, which has not always continued
- The need to value and adequately fund the third sector to ensure resilience for any future pandemic
- The importance of a human rights based approach, and using human rights standards to guide responses to future pandemics
You can watch Sara’s evidence on YouTube here.
The ALLIANCE’s full written evidence to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry is also available at the bottom of this page.
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