SESSION 5
Impact on frontline staff and key workers
7pm - Wednesday 21 April (watch again below)
It became very clear at the outset of the pandemic that the UK Government needed to radically reappraise the roles of key workers in society. Our inquiry asks: were the roles of key workers and the risks they faced understood; and were they supported and protected? Were employment conditions, in-work poverty and health and safety at work given adequate consideration by the Government?
SESSION 5 AUDIO HERE
‘We’ve got a fantastic NHS, we will give them all the support that they need, we will make sure that they have all preparations, all the kit that they need for us to get through it’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 10 March 2020
‘What I can tell you is that we truly did everything we could, and continue to do everything that we can,
to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage,
and a very, very difficult crisis for our country, and we will continue to do that'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 26 January 2021
In order to answer these questions we will hear the evidence of frontline staff working in the NHS, in care services, transport and education. Evidence will also be drawn from the work of bodies including Independent SAGE and assorted trade unions and professional associations across these sectors.
THE PANEL:
Michael Mansfield QC (chair), Professor Neena Modi, Dr. Tolullah Oni, Dr. Jacky Davis
Lorna Hackett Barrister (Counsel to the Inquiry)
WITNESSES:
Unjum Mirza | ASLEF, BAME Rep, Victoria Line Branch https://youtu.be/bRtKxm_5lno?t=553
Prof. Raymond Agius | Professor Emeritus of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Univ. of Manchester https://youtu.be/bRtKxm_5lno?t=2954
Kirsty Brewerton | NHS Clinical Sister and founder Sitting Rooms of Culture https://youtu.be/bRtKxm_5lno?t=4489
Dr Chidi Ejimofo | NHS consultant in Emergency Medicine https://youtu.be/bRtKxm_5lno?t=5711