Latest news with #Akinnola
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Leamington man's fight for answers over father's Covid death
A man who lost his father during the coronavirus pandemic said he was still campaigning for Akinnola's father Femi, who worked with adults living with learning disabilities, died with Covid-19 in April 2020 at the age of Akinnola, from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, said he was still campaigning for answers on behalf of the Covid-19 bereaved families as a public inquiry continues. "Five years feels like a long time but the pain is still very present", he features in the documentary, Love and Loss: The Pandemic 5 Years On, which airs on BBC One on Monday at 20:00 GMT. Femi was a regular gym-goer, with no underlying health conditions, and Mr Akinnola said he thought racial inequalities may have put him at greater to BBC CWR, he said: "It's important that we don't forget those people that we've lost and that's something that I hope this documentary will do, give people the space to share and experience each other's sorrow."It's the largest loss of life since World War Two and it's important that we take the time and space to commemorate and remember those we've lost." 'Nothing can bring him back' The UK recorded more than 220,000 Covid-related deaths, and the aim of the documentary is to retell the story of the pandemic through the eyes of 12 people who lost loved ones – including the film's director, Catey Sexton."People sacrificed themselves, there were people who were fighting to try and keep us all healthy and safe and they paid the ultimate price," Mr Akinnola said."It's so important that we remember those people and try to live up to the legacy they have set of caring for your fellow man."It's so crucial that we learn from this disaster and find answers, there's nothing I can do to bring my father back but if finding out what went wrong for him means that someone else doesn't have to be in the same place then I'll spend every day I have trying to make sure that we get those answers, not just for my closure but for the sake of those who come after us."The documentary will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Covid inquiry focuses on PPE deals and the use of a 'VIP' lane
The Covid public inquiry will start four weeks of hearings on Monday, looking into the purchase and distribution of billions of pounds' worth of medical equipment during the total, it's thought £48bn was spent on personal protective equipment (PPE), the test-and-trace programme, hospital supplies and the vaccine 10% of contracts were awarded to firms with a link to the Conservative government in power at the time, according to the organisation Transparency families have accused the inquiry of a "potential whitewash" after it emerged representatives of PPE suppliers will not be called upon to give evidence. The 'VIP lane' This fifth section of the inquiry will hear from 50 witnesses, expected to include law experts, civil servants, politicians and transparency will cover the value of contracts awarded to companies in the pandemic, spending controls, the prevalence of fraud and the steps taken to eliminate inquiry will also look in detail at the use of the so-called "VIP lane" – officially known as the high priority lane – to award government in April 2020, the idea was to treat offers to supply PPE with greater urgency if they came with a recommendation from ministers, MPs, members of the House of Lords, or other senior the time the government said there was a "desperate need" to protect health and social care staff, and it was argued swift action was required to secure PPE. A National Audit Office report later found that up to the end of July 2020, about one in 10 suppliers in the high priority lane was awarded a contract, while the figure was less than one in 100 for other government ordered more than 30m masks, gowns and other items of PPE during Covid, with contracts totalling £ part of the inquiry will also look at the purchase of ventilators to help patients breathe, as well as millions of lateral flow and PCR is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work? Whitewash claims Bereaved families have accused the inquiry of "protecting PPE suppliers from scrutiny", after it emerged the inquiry would not seek evidence from commercial firms involved in the Akinnola, whose father Femi died in April 2020, said individual suppliers need to be held to account."If people are not called to give evidence, then how are we ever going to know what went wrong?" he asked."Covid cost the lives of nearly 250,000 people in the UK, and if we don't take every step we can to learn from mistakes, we are going to leave a weakness in our response."A spokesman for the Covid inquiry said it did not need to hear evidence directly from PPE firms as the focus "is on how the government responded to suppliers' offers"."Our role is not to pursue criminal investigations into individuals or suppliers – that is a matter for law enforcement," he inquiry also ruled in January that any sensitive evidence about PPE Medpro, the supplier linked to Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, would be held in private to avoid prejudicing any criminal inquiry's chair, Baroness Hallett, has already taken evidence on other subjects including pandemic planning and political decision-making, the impact on the NHS and the vaccine phases later this year will cover the care sector, test-and-trace, the impact on children, and the economy.
