Register now: COVID-19 – How well prepared was the NHS?

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The first session of Keep Our NHS Public’s People’s Covid Inquiry asks: How prepared was the NHS?

The UK’s NHS is a unique healthcare system in that it provides healthcare free at the point of use for all UK residents. This should have meant that the UK was in a strong position to confront a pandemic head on.

Yet, we have the worst death rate in the world and the hundreds of people are still dying every day, while some other parts of the world are enjoying relative freedom and health.

Why has this happened, why has it happened here, and why has it happened now?

The calm before the storm?

The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first pandemic the world has ever seen, it is not even the first pandemic of the 21^st century. In the last two decades we dealt with SARS, H1N1, MERS, Ebola and Zika virus, before SARS-CoV-2 caused COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had advised that in order to mitigate the impact of epidemics, to protect the workforce and to ensure continuity of services during and after them, stronger health systems were needed.

The UK already had the infrastructure in place to provide a world beating health service. So why did this not happen in the UK?

To get to the bottom of this question our first session of the People’s Covid Inquiry will ask:

How has policy over the last decade impacted on the resilience of our NHS, social care system and public health systems and its preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic whilst delivering continuity of core NHS services?

Join the session

The Government has promised an inquiry into COVID-19 failings, but won’t commit to when, despite over 100,000 people having already died from COVID-19 in the UK.

Keep Our NHS Public campaigners have been forced to take matters into our own hands now, to ensure we learn lessons and save lives sooner rather than later.

You can register to join the first session of our People’s Covid Inquiry which will ask How prepared was the NHS?

Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a3y1fJPJQ9aUkL3x5oRFtw

Revealing the panel

Our People’s Covid Inquiry Panel for all eight sessions of the People’s Covid Inquiry will include:

We are excited to welcome Michael Mansfield QC as chair of the Panel. Michael is currently involved in the Grenfell Inquiry. He has represented families at the Hillsborough Inquiry and the Stephen Lawrence family in both murder trial and the public inquiry.

Keep Our NHS Public is also pleased to announce the Inquiry panel will include Professor Neena Modi, Dr Jacky Davis, Dr Tolullah Oni and, as Counsel to the Inquiry, Lorna Hackett, Barrister. See the panel details in full.

The witnesses for this first session session will be:

Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice
Prof Sir Michael Marmot, director of The UCL Institute of Health Equity, lead author of the Marmot reports
Holly Turner RN, NHS nurse, children's mental health (CAMHS)
Prof Gabriel Scally, President of Epidemiology & Public Health section, Royal Society of Medicine
Dr John Lister, academic, author and campaigning journalist

We also want to hear from you. Please send your questions to the panel via our form.