{"id":137,"date":"2021-10-26T15:16:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T14:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=137"},"modified":"2023-04-20T09:54:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T08:54:09","slug":"why-the-covid-19-public-inquiry-must-be-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/why-the-covid-19-public-inquiry-must-be-accessible\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Covid-19 public inquiry must be accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eric is 57, lives in Salford with his partner Charlie and is deafblind. He shares why it\u2019s so important that the government delivers next year\u2019s public inquiry into Covid-19 in an accessible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had hearing problems for most of my life and have relied on lipreading<\/a>. But it wasn\u2019t until I was 29 that doctors diagnosed me with Usher syndrome<\/a> – a genetic condition that causes progressive sight and hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My disability means that sometimes it\u2019s difficult for me to advocate for myself or communicate with others. I often rely on emails and texts. It\u2019s vital that information is presented to me in an accessible way. Otherwise, I miss out on important updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the pandemic, I\u2019ve really felt that my needs as a disabled person haven\u2019t been prioritised. It\u2019s been a really difficult 18 months. Now, many of the safety precautions have further isolated disabled people like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the most basic of tasks became challenging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the pandemic hit, it became impossible to see a doctor. My scheduled appointments were cancelled and moved to phone calls without any alternative. I can\u2019t use the phone so couldn\u2019t reschedule them. I\u2019ve had to miss a lot of them or rely on my partner Charlie to communicate with the GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not being able to access basic healthcare has made me feel cut off. I\u2019m worried that I won\u2019t be able to access GP appointments in future if they continue to be over the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During lockdown, even the most basic of tasks became a challenge. Despite being on the priority shopping list, it was impossible to get a supermarket delivery slot and in the end we had to go out. My hearing and sight impairment means that I can\u2019t socially distance as others would, so can\u2019t keep myself and others safe. Leaving the house was a real risk for us, but we had no choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s been no information for those who can\u2019t follow safety measures. It’s made me feel even more isolated. If I didn\u2019t have Charlie, it would have been impossible to get through this past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’ve made decisions without thinking about disabled people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the pandemic, it seems like no one has thought about disabled people. I saw briefings without interpreters. I received letters in formats that I couldn’t read. I\u2019ve been failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m passionate that next year’s public inquiry into Covid-19 is accessible. Many disabled people have already been cut off from important information and guidance. We must be involved and engaged in the inquiry if we want to prioritise the needs of disabled people in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m joining Sense and calling for disabled people to be at the heart of the Covid-19 inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Disability
Disability capaigners and the charity Sense were in Westminster to deliver a petition of over 38K signatures, calling for disabled people to be heard at the Covid Inquiry. On the day, the government announced the end of all covid restrictions, leaving many disabled people worried they will be left behind. \nPlease contact:\ndamian.field@sense.org.uk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Add your name to the petition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Take action now to help make sure disabled people aren’t left out of next year’s inquiry.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n Sign the petition<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric is 57, lives in Salford with his partner Charlie and is deafblind. He shares why it\u2019s so important that the government delivers next year\u2019s public inquiry into Covid-19 in an accessible way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[91],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-eric"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}