Covid inquiry report: We planned for failure (23 July 2024)

Summary

In this opinion piece for the BMJ, Christina Pagel, Professor of Operational Research at University College London reflects on the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry's module 1 report. The report focuses on the resilience and preparedness of the UK for a pandemic. She highlights the report's finding that the UK had never planned to prevent any pandemic disease from spreading—its plans were centred on dealing with the impact of its spread and coping with a large number of deaths. The article outlines the need to determine which values drive pandemic planning and why engaging the public in national crisis planning is essential.