A damning report into the circumstances surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower has highlighted serious issues around psychological support for survivors, as GPs ‘did not know where to refer people needing care’.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry last week published its second and final report into the fire which happened in the early hours of 14 June 2017.
This marked the end of a process which started on 15 June 2017, when then Prime Minister Theresa May announced a public inquiry to examine the disaster ‘with a view to ensuring that a similar disaster could never occur again’.
The fire at Grenfell Tower was the worst residential fire in the UK since the Second World War and resulted in the deaths of 72 people.
The report pointed out that in the aftermath of the tragedy there were issues with GPs not knowing where to refer survivors for acute care and counselling.
It examined the underlying causes of the fire ‘to identify where mistakes were made’ and how Grenfell Tower came to be ‘in a condition which allowed the fire to spread’, and it also investigated the response of the authorities to the emergency.
The report said: ‘On 18 June 2017 the Prime Minister had asked for additional NHS staff to attend the next day. Those concerns were not isolated.
‘Later that day it became clear that doctors did not know where to refer people needing care, who was in charge or whom to contact in connection with a need for acute care. There was a sense that no one was in charge.’
It also said that survivors described how they struggled with their mental health after the fire, ‘desperately needing help but not knowing where to get it’ at a time when they were at their most vulnerable.
It added: ‘Most of those who had been affected indicated that psychological support had not been offered to them within the seven days following the fire.
‘Others asked their doctors to refer them for psychological support, or received counselling by other routes, such as through their employers. Yet others paid privately for their own counselling.
‘Some survivors reported a delay in receiving psychological support, in some cases for as much as six months.’
The inquiry report found that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable ‘and that those who lived in Grenfell Tower were badly failed over a number of years by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of its occupants’.
It also mentioned a GP warning that one of the flats ‘was having a detrimental effect’ on the health of one of the people that died in the fire, Tony Disson.
The report said: ‘In April 2016, a doctor at his local surgery wrote to the Tenant Management Organisation in support of Tony Disson’s request for repairs to be carried out in his flat.
‘The letter indicated that the current condition of the flat was having a detrimental effect on his health and well-being but did not refer to his having any difficulties with mobility.’
Today, the King’s Fund published its report into lessons learnt from the disaster.
It said that the report authors heard ‘repeatedly’ that people felt the dedicated funding streams were ‘not being spent appropriately’ – most notably the funds allocated for enhanced health checks from GPs, which many said they were not receiving.
The think-tank spoke to a local GP who expressed ‘deep empathy for people who had survived’ the fire and acknowledged that the community ‘was not getting the care and attention they were asking for’ regarding their health and wellbeing.
The GP said: ‘There’s very strong emotions that can transfer across when I’m in, you know, my GP consultation, very powerful emotions and… I really try and empathise [with] that… Although it has been six years on [since the fire], it still, you know, feels like as though it just happened yesterday.
‘It’s until there’s justice for this community… they’re not going to let this go… There was something called [the] enhanced health check and that… looks at both physical and psychological health needs… However, it’s not meeting the needs of what the community have been… asking for.’
The King’s Fund pointed out that there was an agreement between the CCG and GPs that they would flag patients on their records who were former residents of the tower, signalling they were a priority for different health care services.
‘The survivors and bereaved were seeking a co-ordinated and holistic approach to their health care. However, some participants told us that they found it very challenging to access the enhanced health checks,’ it added.
‘Thus, from the point of view of the survivors and bereaved and others in the wider community, primary care was not delivering what was expected.
‘This has left some people feeling that the impact of the fire on their physical health has been downplayed or not given due consideration.’
North West London ICB chief executive Rob Hurd said: ‘We know that survivors, bereaved and the wider community have been waiting for the publication of the report and we recognise its importance within the NHS.
‘We understand the upset this will cause and for many it will bring back memories and horror of the night of the fire. We want to provide reassurance that the NHS will be here for you now and in the future.’
Clinical lead for North Kensington Dr Andrew Steeden said: ‘There are a range of services and support available and at the request of local community, NHS North West London has worked with our partners to put in place arrangements for a place for quiet space and reflection that they can visit and get support from their own community.’
In an open letter to bereaved and survivors of Grenfell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea council Cllr Elizabeth Campbell said that the inquiry ‘has laid bare the chain of events that led to that night’.
She said: ‘It shows how you were let down by the systems and people responsible for protecting you and your families. It shows – beyond doubt – that this Council failed the residents of Grenfell Tower and the 72 people, including 18 children, who died.
‘You have had to wait a long time for answers, and I hope the publication of this report is an important step forward in the ongoing search for justice.
‘We fully accept the findings, which are a withering critique of a system broken from top to bottom. It is crystal clear – profits were put before people, clear warning signs were ignored, and Grenfell was wholly avoidable, with failure at every single level.’
Local GPs have spoken to Pulse about providing care to Grenfell Tower survivors and about working in an area living with the longer-term effects of the tragedy.
