Covid, care homes and a legal decision

Under Pressure 28 April 2022

Covid, care homes and a legal decision

The UK Government have been found to break the law in the way that care home residents were dealt with at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a major step and an important one for the families who lost loved ones and have campaigned to get the case to court.

Many commenting on this situation are not surprised by the decision but it does feel like the start of an important moment of reflection on what happened, what decisions were made, and what impact these decisions had. After many years working in the emergency services these sort of questions were always asked when dealing with crises, so I wonder why this had to become a court case to be addressed.

Emergency planners have been considering the issues for years, and exercises have highlighted where things needed to change. The question clearly is why did nobody see the problems that lay ahead? A point that was raised during the recent ITV documentary about the Manchester Arena terrorist attack where the issues raised in a previous exercise were not acted upon.

The UK Government have some serious changes to make in light of this court ruling and the recent National Preparedness Commission report. More investment is needed in the approach to emergency and disaster management, and those who work in these areas need to be used as expert advisors when problems emerge. My thoughts are with those who will have been affected by this court ruling.

For anyone working in emergency management and crisis communication this is an important reminder that scenario planning, considering the implications of decisions and consequence management are all critical pieces of work.

People and Crisis Podcast

Amanda was recently interviewed by James Parris for his popular podcast. The discussion focused on communicating well in a crisis and the importance of keeping people at the heart of what you do. If you are interested and would like to listen to the full interview it can be found here.

Getting Chartered

For anyone interested in increasing their professional qualifications this week has been Get Chartered week for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Getting chartered was something I did six years ago, and I share my thoughts on it here. But I also am a Chartered Assessor and am privileged to see the amazing PR and communication talent that exists worldwide. If you are interested in getting Chartered and want to find out more I have become a Chartership Support Buddy so just get in touch at amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

In Brief:

• The qualities of effective crisis leadership are discussed in this article by George S Everly Jr in Psychology Today. Among the points made are that having a vision, being decisive, showing integrity, communicating effectively, and fostering support enhance crisis leadership. Read more here.

• For anyone working in education the Security website features a useful story from America. The Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC) has released new crisis guidelines to help schools and institutions of higher education prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies. Find out about it here.

• Two Canadian academics have assessed whether governments around the world over-reacted to the pandemic. Read about the work here.

• The development of internal communication during the Covid-19 pandemic is explored by Ekram Kabir in a recent article. For any internal communicators the comments may be of interest. Read it here.

• Testing Times the monthly crisis communication case study from Amanda Coleman Communications will be published this weekend. To receive a copy email amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

Diary Dates:

• Amanda is speaking at the PRCA’s Crisis Conference on 5 May. Her focus will be on becoming comfortable dealing with risks, issues and crisis management. Find out more about the conference here.

• Training to get maximum impact from a dwindling PR budget is the focus of a session Amanda is running on 1 June for the PRCA. To book a place check out the details here.

• A half day PRCA workshop looking at developing a communication strategy is fully booked on 7 June but another session is available in September if you don’t want to miss out this year. Find out more here.

• Crisis and emergency communication is the focus of a two day training course designed by Amanda for public sector communicators. The course is part of the Westco training programme and takes place on 16 and 17 June. Find out more here.

• Amanda has been announced as one of the speakers for the 2022 Commshero Week. Find out details through the website here.