The People’s Covid Inquiry (PCI) organised by Keep Our NHS Public ran from February – June 2021.
Chaired by Michael Mansfield QC, the Inquiry heard from over 50 witnesses who gave evidence to a distinguished panel of experts. The Inquiry report Misconduct in Public Office was published in December 2021.
Commentary on First report from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (18 July 2024)
‘The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom’ is the first report of nine modules of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and is the most politically charged.
We know that there was a failure of the state to protect our citizens from the threats from this lethal disease. The failures of individual politicians amount to serious misconduct in public office, as we said in November 2021 (and sent evidence to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation which was declined.)
The deaths registered with Covid are over 230,000 and close to the worst among richer nations. The gross inequality of impact on vulnerable and at-risk groups in society is laid bare and the impact on the health and social care services, the staff and most striking of all the people they serve is nothing short of shocking. The report acknowledges the role of frontline staff in preventing an even worse outcome and names the emergency services, transport workers, teachers, food and medicines industry workers and other key workers who kept the country going.
The report has hard-hitting evidence and structural recommendations of clear value for future planning. Shockingly, what is missing is a condemnation of the government policy, deeply ideological in content, that stripped back to the bone our public health system and undermined our NHS and care services. This policy is core to how lacking in resilience and ill-prepared the country was.
There are recommendations to get pandemic planning right in the future, but a failure to name those responsible for the gross dereliction of duty to be the guilty parties.
It is more than a sense of justice that demands blame to be attributed: it is vital for bereaved families and traumatised staff groups to understand how and why one of the richest countries in the world ended up with one of the most unequal and unjust covid outcomes. We must expect a lot more in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s future modules:
The Boris Johnsons, Michael Goves and Matt Hancocks of the past Government seem to have escaped culpability for the moment. We will work with others to protest this failure.
For a thorough assessment of the failures of government and the lessons to be learned, go to the website of our Keep Our NHS Public’s
People’s Covid Inquiry (published December 2021).
The first session of our PCI report was How prepared was the NHS?
The final PCI report includes the Findings and recommendations.
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