TRADE UNION DESK A Covid education
You would have easily missed the press coverage of the release in March 2026 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s investigation on the impact the pandemic had on the NHS healthcare systems across the United Kingdom. Outside of specialist health media, there was not much at all apart from grumblings about the cost to the Exchequer, writes John O’Farrell.
Which is a shame as the inquiry stayed away from looking for a villain (Boo! Matt Hancock!) and has focused upon its remit rather than conspiracies. There are lessons to be learnt, if and when such a pandemic reoccurs. Healthcare systems are highly technical and advances in medical science are stunning, but the core and cost of the NHS is its staff.
The inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, a member of the House of Lords, acknowledged this: “The healthcare systems coped with the pandemic, but only just. On a number of occasions, they teetered on the brink of collapse and only coped thanks to the almost superhuman efforts of healthcare workers and all the staff who support them.
“Healthcare workers and support staff were obliged (often at considerable cost to themselves and their families) to work under intolerable pressure for months on end. Some patients suffering from Covid-19 did not get the quality of treatment they needed and some non-Covid-19 patients had their diagnoses and treatments delayed to the point where their conditions became untreatable.
“Many thousands of people died in hospitals and died alone.”
Among the inquiry’s recommendations is “increasing support for healthcare workers, improving retention and increasing resilience”.
In Northern Ireland, there were feats of endurance and heroism by NHS workers. In the submission made by NIC-ICTU with the assistance of healthcare unions, the context of a decade of under-investment was outlined. Northern Ireland experienced the smallest increase in per capita health spending over the 10 years leading up to 2020. Nominal spending increased by 18 per cent in Northern Ireland compared to 29 per cent in England and Wales, and 23 per cent in Scotland. Capital spending by the Northern Ireland Executive was £137 million or 9.2 per cent below where it was in 2009/10 in real terms.
In June 2020, health unions gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Assembly Health Committee: “Over the last decade HSC services have been through a period of sustained austerity. It is accepted across the system that the cost of providing health and social care increases by around 6 per cent annually. This level of investment, effectively to allow HSC services to stand still, was not forthcoming during the last decade and has left our members working in a service that is under-resourced and under pressure.”
Health unions participated in the Executive’s Strategic Engagement Forum, which published key documents including a list of priority sectors and workplace safety guidance which informed Executive policy. After this initial work, however, the forum was unfortunately largely ignored by the Executive.
More constructive was the tripartite system of updates and information sharing was established within the HSC based on the existing NHS Agenda for Change negotiating structures used for pay and conditions, initially weekly in the early stages of the pandemic, becoming less frequent as the system established procedures to manage the situation. The topics covered in the initial agendas included shielding, PPE, face covering, testing, fit testing, death-in-service, contact tracing, childcare, and health and safety officers.
A university survey of 1,395 NHS staff found a stark reflection of the stresses of working in the HSC, not least the pressure on staff and impact upon recruitment and retention. “Nearly one-half of the respondents UK-wide (43 per cent) had considered changing their employer, with the highest proportion of these being from England (51.5 per cent) and followed closely by Northern Ireland (43.3 per cent). Within social work, 48.9 per cent of respondents considered changing their employer.
“Within social care workers, 44.2 per cent considered changing their occupation during the pandemic. Respondents indicated that a pay increase (61.2 per cent), manager support (46.2 per cent), wellbeing support (41.0 per cent), and safer working conditions (38.6 per cent), would change their minds about wanting to leave their employer or current occupation.”
A midwife reported: “Anxieties and environmental tension on labour ward is extremely high regarding caring for women in labouring rooms (with partners), close proximity for up to 11/12 hours per shift. They could be symptomless, exposed prior to admission, and we cannot be certain if they have been following social distancing guidance. Midwives are feeling that we have been forgot about in our unique position, undervalued and vulnerable.”
The toll of deaths among Northern Ireland’s NHS workers is unclear. The ONS records 241 Covid-19 related deaths among healthcare workers in England and Wales.
NISRA’s statistics from March 2020 to October 2021 record 391 Covid-19 related deaths in the working age population, out of 3,692 deaths overall. Almost the same as the total deaths of over three decades of ‘the Troubles’. How soon we forget.
John O’Farrell is a Communications Officer at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and long-time contributor to agendaNi.
