Responding to the publication of the COVID-19 Inquiry report into decision-making and political governance, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:

“Nursing staff will never forget how they and their patients were failed by those at the highest levels of government. While those on the frontline of the battle against the virus were sounding the alarm, warnings were left unheeded. Nursing staff could see the devastation of the virus but their voices went unheard until it was too late. Too many of those who did everything they could to protect their patients paid the ultimate price.

“The failure to respond with any sense of urgency at the start of the pandemic not only cost lives it added unprecedented pressures on the NHS, which are still being felt to this day. This report must mark a turning point in how health emergencies are responded to and how the voice of nursing must never be ignored again. The nursing profession made a profound sacrifice and this is a debt that is still to be repaid."

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