The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is calling on its members to share their experiences of working through the COVID-19 pandemic with the Government’s official inquiry.
Its call comes as the Every Story Matters listening exercise campaign to encourage health professionals and members of the public to feed into the COVID-19 inquiry is launched.
The aim of the campaign is to help the inquiry gather stories and personal experiences so that the inquiry can make recommends about how to deal with future pandemic more effectively.
“The experiences of midwives, maternity support workers, student midwives and midwifery educators will be crucial to gaining a better understanding of how the pandemic impacted on their working lives, and ultimately care for women, babies and families,” said RCM Chief Executive, Gill Walton. “I encourage as many as possible to respond to the listening exercise, because your stories matter, and sharing what you lived and worked through will help to change things for the better should we ever face a similar situation in the future.”
The RCM is asking members to let Every Story Matters know about the impact of the pandemic on their working lives, and crucially, how they think things can be improved for other pandemics that may come in the future.
Every Story Matters gives health professionals the opportunity to tell their story and how the pandemic affected them and their working lives without the formality of giving evidence or attending a public hearing.
“The pandemic affected every single person in the UK and, in many cases, continues to have a lasting impact on lives. Yet every experience is unique. By sharing the personal impact the pandemic had on you, your life and your loved ones, you can help me and the Inquiry’s legal team to shape my recommendations so that the UK is better prepared in the future, said Baroness Heather Hallett, the COVID-19 Inquiry Chair. “The scale of the pandemic was unprecedented, but no-one’s story is the same as yours, so please help me understand the full picture by sharing your story. Every single story will matter.”
Every Story Matters will be running throughout the lifetime of the COVID-19 inquiry. RCM members and their colleagues can share their stories through the Every Story matters website via an online form. There are also a range of other routes to feed in your story – including paper versions and later this year a telephone number people can call. Members of the Inquiry team will also be travelling across the UK so that individuals can share their experiences in person at community events, so keep a look out for one near you via the Every Story Matters website.
