This week, we saw the end of another module of the COVID-19 Inquiry. Module 6 – which the RCN was a core participant in – focused on the impact of the pandemic on adult social care across the UK. Every aspect of the Inquiry is important but, for me, this was one of the most significant.

We all heard the promises to ‘throw a protective ring around care homes’ and we all know how this never happened. Nursing staff working in care homes – as well as social care more widely – were left in horrific positions, and those supported by the care sector were failed.

Throughout the module, the RCN gave evidence to highlight the experiences of nursing staff and the issues they faced - including staff shortages, the disparity of treatment between social care and the NHS, and the fact that many members of the nursing profession lost their lives just by turning up for work. The module finished yesterday and the next step will be the publication of a report next year which will set out recommendations.

The module concluded with core participants, including the RCN, giving their closing statements. RCN Barrister Gerry Boyle KC spoke of the ‘life-threatening situation’ nursing staff were put in. He also highlighted the mistakes made such as ‘unworkable guidance’ that was published during the pandemic, and cited the lack of meaningful engagement with the RCN as part of this issue.

Earlier in the week, I also gave evidence in my role as the RCN’s Head of Independent Health and Social Care. I spoke about the impact of short staffing levels in the care sector during the pandemic, but also prior to and since 2020. And I emphasised that, more generally, social care often feels like a second-class citizen and a poor relative to the NHS.

I was asked how support could have been improved so that staff retention rates weren’t so negatively affected. I told the Inquiry that if the care sector had parity with the NHS and equity of access to the same resources, that would have helped to boost staff morale and encouraged people to stay in their roles.

The RCN also supported nursing staff to share their testimony as part of Module 6, with the Rev Charlotte Hudd, a former registered nurse who worked at a care home during the pandemic, speaking about her experiences. Ms Hudd spoke of being left in awful situations, such as having to make her own gowns from bedsheets and storing the team’s limited number of face masks in freezer bags so they could be reused.

She also shared details of her fear when left to care for around 20 residents with complex needs on her own for 10 days, and spoke about writing her final wishes note on a card at 3am, in case she became unwell, as there was no one there to help.

Ms Hudd now lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and long COVID following what she went through, and she was forced to leave her job in 2021. As our barrister said, many nursing staff working in social care – as well as in the NHS – lost their careers through the impact of the pandemic on their mental health, and many continue to suffer the effects of long COVID.

This is why it is so important we continue to highlight the experiences of nursing staff during the pandemic – as well as the continuing impact on individuals and health and care systems. As with this module, and every other opportunity that presents itself, the RCN will continue to raise the Voice of Nursing and work to ensure our members in all settings are heard.