Coronavirus: Families of victims call for full independent inquiry

A support group for people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 is calling on Boris Johnson to hold an immediate public inquiry into the pandemic.

Lobby Akinnola and Leigh Morgan Jones of Covid Bereaved Families for Justice say it's vital that lessons are learned, and applied in the event of a second wave of the disease.

Speaking to the BBC's Brian Wheeler, Lobby said he believed black and ethnic minority communities were being neglected.

Leigh thought her father should have gone to hospital sooner and that NHS 111 were too slow to spot symptoms.

He had collapsed a number of times but her mother had been told three times that he did not need to be hospitalised.

"111, for me, let Dad down and they let him down badly," said Leigh.

In response to these criticisms, an NHS spokesperson said: “GPs, nurses, paramedics and other health service staff working in the 111 phone and online service have played a key role in helping millions of people get the right care and advice – whether for coronavirus or any other urgent medical needs."

The prime minister has promised that an inquiry will be held into the pandemic "in the future" but that now is not the "right moment".