UK Covid-19 Inquiry to examine impact of pandemic on healthcare

The impact of the Covid pandemic on NHS workers, patients and the delivery of healthcare is set to be examined by a public inquiry.

The first public hearings of module three of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry will be held on Monday, with leaders from the Health and Safety Executive and Unison expected to give evidence this week.

This part of the inquiry is looking at the governmental and societal response to Covid-19 by assessing the impact of the pandemic on how NHS services were delivered.

This will include how managers led the pandemic response, the role of primary care and GPs , NHS backlogs, and how the vaccine programme was integrated.

The diagnosis of long Covid and the support offered to those affected will also be examined.

Evidence this week will come from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice; Dr Barry Jones, chair of the Covid-19 Airborne Transmission Alliance; Richard Brunt, director of engagement and policy division at the Health and Safety Executive; and Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison.

Nicola Brook, solicitor at Broudie Jackson Canter, which represents more than 7,000 families from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group, said: “This module of the inquiry is one of the most important in understanding the true horrors of the pandemic.

“It will reveal some of the most shocking details, distressing stories and outrageous scandals that took place.

“Despite the narrative pedalled by those in charge that the UK coped, the sad fact is people died unnecessarily.

“Groups like the disabled and the elderly were written off because it was considered that their lives were not worth saving.”

In July, the inquiry’s first report into preparedness for a pandemic found the UK Government and the civil service “failed” the public due to “significant flaws”.

It said there was a “damaging absence of focus” on the measures and infrastructure that would be needed to deal with a fast-spreading disease, even though a coronavirus outbreak at pandemic scale “was foreseeable”.

Chair Baroness Heather Hallett said lessons must be learned because, unless changes are made, the next pandemic will “bring with it immense suffering and huge financial cost, and the most vulnerable in society will suffer the most”.

She added: “There were serious errors on the part of the state and serious flaws in our civil emergency systems. This cannot be allowed to happen again.”

The public hearings for module three are expected to run for 10 weeks.