Bereavement charities call for more funding to support grieving families

Charities are calling for more funding to support grieving families who have lost loved ones amid the coronavirus outbreak.  

The National Bereavement Alliance (NBA) is calling for £500m of funding currently allocated for England’s mental health to be used to help those whose relatives have died in the pandemic.  

The charity said many families could not spend time with loved ones, and care workers on the frontline had been impacted by death on an ‘unprecedented scale’.

It added that the impact of bereavement is felt not just by the individual, but throughout society through increased NHS usage. 

The plea comes after the Prime Minister said he was ‘deeply sorry for every life lost’ after Britain passed 100,000 coronavirus deaths. 

In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Mental Health minister Nadine Dorries, the NBA says: ‘The terrible toll of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 reached today lays bare the scale of loss faced by families, friends, and communities across the UK. 

The National Bereavement Alliance (NBA) is calling for £500m of funding currently allocated for England’s mental health to be used to help those whose relatives have died in the pandemic (pictured: Some who have died amid the coronavirus pandemic)

‘Millions of people bereaved by the usual 600,000 deaths each year have also been impacted by the social restrictions necessary to control the virus.

‘Families and friends have been bereaved in sudden and shocking ways; many have been unable to be with their loved ones as they died, and to gather to support one another in their grief. 

‘These losses have been felt particularly heavily by those from disadvantaged and deprived communities.’

The charity says ‘sustainable funding’ would help services provide early support to meet bereaved people’s immediate health and welfare needs; opportunities to meet others who have been bereaved and to offer mutual support; and one-to-one support for those who need more intensive interventions.

The plea comes after the Prime Minister said he was ‘deeply sorry for every life lost’ after Britain passed 100,000 coronavirus deaths

Training for schools, employers, faith communities and others in bereaved people’s networks could also be provided to ‘help them provide a supportive response’.

‘The holistic approach outlined here would help address the devastating legacy of grief from these extraordinary times,’ says the letter, signed by Dr Marilyn Relf.

It comes as Boris Johnson apologised for ‘every life lost’ after Britain passed 100,000 coronavirus deaths.

Mr Johnson said he took ‘full responsibility’ for every action his Government had taken in the pandemic, insisting ministers had done ‘everything we could’ to limit the fatalities. 

Professor Chris Whitty provided a small beacon of hope, revealing the country had reached the peak of the latest – and most serious – wave of the pandemic. 

England’s Chief Medical Officer said cases were falling fast – down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000. The figure is the lowest it has been since December.