My father, Ian Marsh-Rees, died from hospital-acquired Covid-19 on 23 October 2020, the day the Welsh ‘firebreak’ lockdown started. The circuit breaker came way too late.

My father went into hospital for a gallbladder infection but ended up on a non-Covid ward with 20 patients and 11 staff, all with Covid. There was zero infection control despite the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board assuring us lessons had been learned following the first wave earlier in 2020. Twelve of these patients died from Covid.

Having failed to get – to this day – answers from the health board, I discovered many others in Wales in a similar position. Our group, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, was established in July 2021 to call for a Wales inquiry to find out what happened in Wales, where health and social care are devolved, and why.

Just minutes before our group gave its closing statement at the UK Covid inquiry yesterday, we were alerted to the resignation of the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford.

On a human level, we wish him well.

But on a political level, it was Drakeford’s responsibility to lead on the Welsh government’s response to Covid-19 throughout the pandemic. And he failed us.

My father was the most wonderful, polite and positive man. He lived a good life. His death was preventable. He was not protected and should not have died in this awful way. We will continue to campaign to get all the answers from the Welsh government that he and all our loved ones deserve.

Over the last two and a half years, our group has campaigned relentlessly for a Wales-specific Covid-19 inquiry to scrutinise the decisions taken by the devolved government. Our members lost their loved ones to Covid-19 in traumatic circumstances, and we must ensure that the errors made are identified. Lessons must be learned for when we inevitably face the next pandemic.

But to our dismay, Drakeford has repeatedly refused to set up a Covid-19 inquiry in Wales. This has left the Welsh bereaved having to seek answers solely from a UK-wide inquiry. Wales of course must be in the UK Covid-19 inquiry too, but not all issues relevant to Wales are capable of being addressed in something so wide-ranging. Drakeford’s failure to set up an inquiry in Wales is a position that we will never understand.

He has presided over the only Labour Party in Britain that did not wish to hold an inquiry. Scottish Labour called for an inquiry in Scotland and got one. UK Labour called for an inquiry at a UK/Westminster level, and got one. Yet Welsh Labour under Mark Drakeford has ignored and actively opposed calls for an inquiry in Wales.

Drakeford insists that only a UK inquiry will give us the answers we need. He informed the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, that the UK inquiry must be in Wales, in Welsh, and with Welsh experts. Yet in Module 1, only eight out of 100 hours’ testimony covered Wales. Only 12 days will be devoted to the Welsh government’s response next year.

We are baffled as to why, if he’s so convinced the UK inquiry will fully scrutinise Wales, he’s set up a committee to look at its gaps.

His successor must “read the room” and acknowledge that Wales is crying out for better and more accountable governance from our government. Responsibility and accountability must be sought, not avoided.

A Wales-specific Covid-19 inquiry is the only way adequate time can be spent scrutinising in detail the decisions taken in Wales by Drakeford’s government. Absent that, Wales will be in a far worse position than its neighbours.

Devolved decision-making means devolved accountability. It's the least our loved ones deserve.