PRESS RELEASE – 10TH SEPTEMBER 2024 – SCOTTISH COVID BEREAVED – CAROLE STEELE GIVES EVIDENCE
Press Release – 10th September 2024
UK COVID INQUIRY – MODULE 3 – IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS ACROSS THE UK
Statement by Aamer Anwar – Lead Solicitor for Scottish Covid Bereaved
On the 9th September our legal team appeared on behalf of the Scottish Covid Bereaved at the UK Covid Inquiry and today our client, Mrs Carole Steele (aged 59), will give evidence around 3.30pm. Yesterday we made submissions to the Inquiry Chair, Baroness Hallett and we stated in Module 1, the bereaved learned that despite the existence of pandemic planning exercises and various expert groups, neither Scotland nor the wider UK were in any way prepared for the pandemic which struck the UK. In Modules 2 and 2A, the Inquiry examined the core political and administrative decision-making in Scotland and Westminster. A spotlight was turned on our politicians, civil servants and advisors, those we trusted with our health and our lives were often found ‘catastrophically’ lacking.
It is hoped that the Inquiry’s light being shone on the topics in module three will be the disinfectant required to place Scotland and the United Kingdom’s health care systems in a better place in the future. As the Bereaved have previously submitted to this Inquiry, and as the World Health Organization sets out in its constitution the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
While the SCB’s focus is on Scotland, each and every one of us in the UK was affected in some way by the decisions taken in relation to healthcare: whether that be those, like the bereaved who lost loved ones; those who risked their own health to staff hospitals and care homes; those who watched family and friends struggle through treatment; or those whose care for non-Covid related conditions were affected by the pandemic.
This afternoon our client, Mrs Carole Steele, gives evidence at the inquiry, this is a statement issued on her behalf. Carole lost her son, Andrew Steele (aged 28), to Covid on the 2nd January 2021 –
“I lost my son Andrew to Covid in Jan 2021. He was 28 years old. As a family we lost our amazing, talented son and brother. He was a loving partner to his long-term girlfriend and also a great friend. Andrew was very careful about following Covid rules. Covid came from someone’s workplace where in my opinion the business was not properly following Covid guidance. On calling the NHS on his 9th day of isolation he was told to wait another day. He deteriorated suddenly and died on his 10th day at his home, without being seen by hospital staff. The traumatic impact of his death on his loved ones was and still is immense, causing long term anxiety, post-traumatic stress and for some of us drastic changes in employment. Our hearts are broken without him.”
Aamer Anwar goes on to say according to the National Records of Scotland, as of 4th June 2023 when the public inquiry began, there were 17,646 deaths in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Each of those deaths not only represents an individual tragedy, but has affected the friends and family, the loved ones, of each of those who died.
It is over four years since the first death from Covid-19 took place in this country. In that time, nearly a quarter of a million people have died from Covid, whilst our leaders stand accused of presiding over a carousel of chaos. Those who lost loved ones are no longer be invisible in their misery, and have fought to illuminate the truth at the public inquiry. The testimony of Carole is one of many we will hear in the coming days, and sadly it reflects the experiences of thousands across the united kingdom failed by our governments and many others. The dead cannot cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do so.
Mr and Mrs Steele with their son Andrew, at his graduation at Strathclyde University.
Andrew at this graduation at Napier University, Edinburgh.
Link to Inquiry Stream – https://www.youtube.com/@UKCovid-19Inquiry
