As the UK’s independent public inquiry into Covid-19 gets underway, members of the Covid bereaved complain that they are not being given an opportunity to testify.

Today, in the second part of our two-part special, Mark speaks to the parents of Susan Sullivan, a woman with Down's Syndrome who died of Covid-19 at Barnet General Hospital on March 28, 2020, after being deemed “not for resuscitation” and he reveals the findings of a confidential investigation by the Royal Free NHS Hospital Trust into her death. The report, which makes for shocking reading, found that Susan was not seen by a consultant until 20 hours after admission to Barnet’s Accident and Emergency department and that the fact that she had Down’s Syndrome and had been fitted with a pacemaker should not have excluded her from intensive care.

Mark also speaks to Kamran Mallick, the CEO of Disability Rights UK, about what the Sullivan case reveals about the pattern of discrimination experienced by people with learning disabilities across the NHS, and to Dominic Wilkinson, a medical ethicist, who explains the challenge to doctors of weighing the harms and benefits of invasive procedures to patients.

Presented by Mark Honigsbaum @honigsbaum

With:

John and Ida Sullivan

 www.covidfamiliesforjustice.org / @CovidJusticeuk 

Kamran Mallick, CEO of Disability Rights UK.

www.disabilityrights.uk  / @KamranMallick

Professor Dominic Wilkinson

@NeonatalEthics

Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of Medical Ethics at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Dominic is also a Consultant Neonatologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital and a Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College. 

www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/about-jesus-college/our-community/people/professor-dominic-wilkinson/ 

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @Melissafitzg

Cover art by Patrick Blower  www.blowercartoons.com

Follow us on Twitter: @GoingViral_pod    

Follow us on Instagram: goingviral_thepodcast 

Blog: markhonigsbaum.substack.com 

This episode of Going Viral has been produced with the support of a grant from the Higher Education Innovation Fund at City, University of London. It is part of the project, “Commemorating Covid, Remembering Pandemics”, www.rememberingpandemics.com

If you enjoy our podcast - please leave us a rating or review.  Thank you!

As the UK’s independent public inquiry into Covid-19 gets underway, members of the Covid bereaved complain that they are not being given an opportunity to testify.

Today, Mark speaks to the parents of Susan Sullivan, a woman with Down's Syndrome who died of Covid-19 at Barnet General Hospital on March 28, 2020, after being deemed “not for resuscitation” and being denied access to intensive care. The Sullivans have long suspected that their daughter was the victim of medical bias and may have survived if the hospital had granted her statutory right to have a family member at her bedside. Determined to be Susan’s voice, John and Ida Sullivan launched their own investigation into Susan’s death and uncovered a catalogue of medical errors in the process. We also hear from Baroness Heather Hallet, the chair of the UK public inquiry, and from Fran Hall and other members of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK.

Presented by Mark Honigsbaum @honigsbaum

With:

Fran Hall @FranFD1

John and Ida Sullivan

 www.covidfamiliesforjustice.org / @CovidJusticeuk 

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @Melissafitzg

Cover art by Patrick Blower  www.blowercartoons.com

Follow us on Twitter: @GoingViral_pod    

Follow us on Instagram: goingviral_thepodcast 

Blog: markhonigsbaum.substack.com 

This episode of Going Viral has been produced with the support of a grant from the Higher Education Innovation Fund at City, University of London. It is part of the project, “Commemorating Covid, Remembering Pandemics”,

www.rememberingpandemics.com

If you enjoy our podcast - please leave us a rating or review.  Thank you!

As the UK’s independent public inquiry into Covid-19 gets underway, members of the Covid bereaved complain that they are not being given an opportunity to testify.

In a new two part special, Mark speaks to the parents of Susan Sullivan, a Down’s Syndrome woman who died of Covid-19 at Barnet General Hospital on March 28, 2020, after being deemed “not for resuscitation” and being denied access to intensive care. The Sullivans have long suspected that their daughter was the victim of medical bias and may have survived if the hospital had granted her statutory right to have a family member at her bedside. Determined to be Susan’s voice, John and Ida Sullivan launched their own investigation into Susan’s death and uncovered a catalogue of medical errors in the process.

Mark investigates....

...'That's Dancing Queen' and 'Who Do We Not Save' coming to Going Viral on Thursday 13th July.