Summary
In her opening statement, Baroness Heather Hallett, Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, has set out her approach to running it.
The Inquiry will consider and report on the preparations and the response to the pandemic in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Terms of Reference provide the broad outline of the issues the Inquiry will investigate.
Content
To achieve the depth and breadth needed, the Inquiry will be taking a modular approach to its investigations. The Inquiry’s first investigation, Module 1, which opens today, will examine the resilience and preparedness of the UK for the coronavirus pandemic.
Module 2 will be split into parts and will examine core political and administrative governance and decision-making by the UK government. Modules 2A, 2B and 2C will address the same overarching and strategic issues from the perspective of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and hearings will take place in each nation.
Module 3 will investigate the impact of Covid, and governmental and societal responses to it, on healthcare systems, including on patients, hospital and other healthcare workers and staff.
Baroness Heather Hallett has also set out the timetable for the next 12 months. The Inquiry’s first procedural hearings will begin in September and October for Modules 1 and 2. Public hearings for Module 1 will begin in spring 2023 for Module 1 and summer for Module 2. More information on Module 3 timings will be available in the coming weeks.
The Inquiry will announce further modules in 2023. These are expected to cover both ‘system’ and ‘impact’ issues including: vaccines, therapeutics and anti-viral treatment; the care sector; Government procurement and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); testing and tracing; Government business and financial responses; health inequalities and the impact of Covid-19; education, children and young persons; and the impact of Covid-19 on public services and on other sectors. The Inquiry will be looking at the impact of the pandemic on inequalities at every stage of its investigations.
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