UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry

The Inquiry will be UK-wide, and the Scottish Government will also carry out its own Inquiry alongside.

Since both inquiries were announced in 2021, the RCN has continually said that nursing staff expect to be fully involved. 

Nursing staff have questions they want answered. For instance, why were they left without adequate protection from substandard or often lacking Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)? Why did they face confusing guidance on protecting themselves as well as their patients? 

Members want to look forward, ensuring that lessons learned are applied to policies and plans across health and social care. Members wishing to share their experience with the Inquiry can do so via its listening exercise. Module 1 will consider the UK’s preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RCN has successfully applied, on behalf of its members, for Core Participant status in Module 3 of the Inquiry, to ensure the voice of nursing is heard when the Inquiry considers the impact of the pandemic on healthcare.

The RCN has appointed Fenella Morris KC as an advocate for nursing staff throughout the Inquiry. She has represented health regulators and those whom they regulate, from clinicians to the NHS and private health care bodies.

Following calls by the RCN and others, the Inquiry has committed to pay special attention to look at the unequal impact of COVID-19, and fundamental lessons must be learnt and applied in our health and care system.

In July 2022 the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry officially began. RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said:

“Baroness Hallett’s commitment to place inequalities and the voices of those not often heard at the heart of the Inquiry will be appreciated by nursing staff, who too often felt invisible during the pandemic.

For more than two years nurses and nursing support workers in hospitals, the community, social care, within the NHS and care homes have been on the front line. The day to day realities of COVID-19 are still very present. 

Too many nursing staff are still suffering with long COVID. Too many lost friends and colleagues. The RCN will raise the voice of nursing throughout the Inquiry to hold decision-makers to account.

The inquiry must take stock of the damage that the pandemic has done to our health and care services and look ahead to ensure nursing staff are never left unprotected again.”

The RCN submitted its response to a public consultation on the UK and Scottish government’s draft terms of reference, in which the College raised 34 important points that must be addressed (See: 'What will the outcome of the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry be?' below).

RCN UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry FAQs

A statutory public inquiry can be established by a government minister to investigate events of public concern – this can span from investigating if an event occurred, through to the impacts of known events.

An inquiry acts independently from government. It will hear oral evidence from witnesses and review large volumes of documents to determine what happened, why it happened and what steps can be taken to prevent it happening again.

The Inquiry will be chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge. She has appointed a legal team to support the preparation and delivery of the Inquiry’s investigative work. 

The Inquiry was formally opened on 21 July 2022. 

A listening exercise entitled “Every Story Matters” has been launched. This will enable the Inquiry to hear the experiences of people across the UK, ensuring those who have suffered are able to take part.

The Inquiry will review existing research about the pandemic, commission its own research and appoint groups of scientific and other experts to create joint reports setting out where they agree and disagree about the topics on which they are instructed to assist.

Preliminary hearings have begun and the first public evidential hearing is scheduled to start on 13 June 2023. The base for public hearings will be in London but the Inquiry will also spend time hearing evidence in each of the four nations that comprise the UK.

Further information can be found on the Inquiry website.

The scope of the Inquiry is set out in its Terms of Reference, which were consulted upon and approved by the Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson. They can be found here.

The Inquiry will examine, consider and report on the preparations for, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, up to and including the Inquiry’s formal setting-up date of 28 June 2022.

The aims of the Inquiry are to:

• Examine the COVID-19 response and the impact of the pandemic produce a factual narrative account, including:
  • The public health response across the whole of the UK;
  • The response of the health and care sector across the UK; and
  • The economic response to the pandemic and its impact.
• Identify the lessons to be learned from the above, to inform preparations for future pandemics across the UK.

The Chair has decided to group the areas covered in the Terms of Reference into “modules”. The first three have been announced:

• Module 1 will consider the extent to which the risk of a Coronavirus pandemic was properly identified and planned for and will scrutinise government decision-making.

• Module 2 will cover the initial UK response to the pandemic, address central government decision-making and consider the effectiveness of relationships with devolved administrations, local authorities and the voluntary/community sectors. It will look at non-pharmaceutical interventions as well as the use of scientific expertise and data and government messaging.

• Module 3 will examine the impact of COVID-19 and the UK’s response to it on healthcare systems.

After consultation with members, these are the issues that came through as important to nursing staff and the profession.

We have shared this list with the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.

1. UK Government and devolved administrations pandemic preparedness  
2. UK Government and devolved administrations pandemic response  
3. Governance of UK Government and devolved administration decision-making 
4. Profile and status of nursing leadership in UK Government and devolved administration decision-making  
5. Access to specialist Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) advice and development of IPC guidance 
6. Care home approach 
7. Community approach 
8. Supply and availability of PPE and knowledge/skills of health professionals 
9. Capacity of the workforce to support NHS care and workforce strategy 
10. Timeliness and efficacy of public health measures e.g., testing, tracking, vaccination 
11. Coordination of data e.g., population infection rates and impact on marginalised communities 
12. Data on healthcare worker infections and deaths 
13. International learning and knowledge exchange 
14. Effectiveness of legislation (UK Government COVID) and emergency measures 
15. Information governance and sharing across governments in the UK and internationally  
16. Role of regulators 
17. Membership experiences: workplace support needed, pregnancy, student nurses, redeployment etc 
18. COVID ‘recovery’ planning  
19. Public information and communication 
20. The use of private hospitals during the pandemic and the impact on non-NHS nurses 
21. The failure to fully utilise the independent sector 
22. Failures of workforce planning 
23. Recruitment of overseas nurses at a time when most countries were going through significant healthcare staff shortages 
24. The role of the army and the impact this had on NHS staff 
25. The high number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic nurses who died during pandemic and any structural causation 
26. The long-term effects on nurses, including trauma and long COVID
27. The role of local government, particularly commissioning 
28. The different ways in which the student nurses were used across the four countries 
29. Patient and relative experience throughout the pandemic, particularly around palliative care 
30. The impact on clinically vulnerable nurses 
31. Non-healthcare senior executives working from home and the impact this had on frontline staff 
32. UK Government failure to follow clinical and scientific advice 
33. UK Government failure to advise healthcare providers in advance of guidance changes and the impact this had 
34. Country and regional variations and any issues that may have caused 

The UK COVID-19 public Inquiry will consider the areas within its Terms of Reference across the UK. The Scottish Inquiry will consider devolved responses to the pandemic in areas within its own Terms of Reference. 

The devolved responses relate broadly to the areas of education, health, welfare assistance and financial support. Areas which are reserved to the UK Government and Parliament, and therefore within the scope of the UK Inquiry, include social security schemes, immigration and asylum, product safety, health and safety at work and employment rights and duties.

The two inquiries will liaise with each other throughout to minimise any duplication and have produced this Memorandum of Understanding setting out their principles of co-operation and the practical steps they will take to achieve them.

The Chair has a wide range of powers to decide how the Inquiry will be conducted. The Chair may compel the production of documents and summon witnesses to give evidence on oath and is responsible for the final report and recommendations.

The Chair also has the power to issue a notice requiring a person to attend at a particular time and place to give evidence or produce a thing or document under their control.

The RCN has established a new Public Inquiry legal team, which will apply to the Inquiry Chair for “Core Participant” status in relevant modules. The team has already successfully applied for Core Participant status in Module 3, which will examine the impact of the pandemic on healthcare. This affords the RCN the opportunity to see evidence that is relevant to its interest in the Inquiry, to make opening and closing statements at relevant module hearings, to submit questions for witnesses and to see the draft reports prior to publication.

The RCN will seek to amplify the voice of nursing as a whole at the Inquiry rather than to champion any individual cause or interest. It will do so by holding those in power accountable for decisions made which affected nurses, nursing assistants, midwives and healthcare support workers and by sharing the experiences of its members.

The Inquiry’s listening exercise, “Every Story Matters” is now open. You can share your experience with the Inquiry using its “share your experience” online form

If you are an RCN member and require advice on submitting additional evidence to the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry, please complete our online form in the first instance.

Our in-house Public Inquiry legal team will be able to advise you on whether your contribution falls within the submission the RCN is putting together.

Please complete our online form for a referral if you are contacted by the Inquiry as a witness.

If you receive a formal “Rule 9” request from the Inquiry, the RCN’s Public Inquiry team can provide advice and support in drafting your statement and/or pulling together any relevant documents. You might receive this request if, for example, you took a leading role in developing your employer’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic or if you have specific expertise or insight.  

As a procedure designed to understand wider events that stretch beyond the actions of any single person, public inquiries are not proceedings in which witnesses are legally represented. The RCN Public Inquiry team will be able to talk through the Inquiry process with a witness and can provide support in advance of a witness giving evidence, however, the RCN cannot appoint a solicitor to act on your behalf in this instance.

The Inquiry must send a “rule 13 warning letter” to anyone who is likely to be the subject of criticism. If you receive a rule 13 warning letter, please complete our online form for a referral.

A Core Participant is a person or organisation which will play a key role during the Inquiry process. In deciding whether to designate a person as a Core Participant, the Chair will consider whether the party played a direct and significant role in relation to the matters to be dealt with in that module, whether they have a significant interest in an important aspect of those matters and whether they may be subject to explicit or significant criticism.

Core Participants in Modules 1 to 3 of the UK Inquiry include:

• Bereaved families’ groups
• Public health bodies
• Government ministers and departments
• Charity groups

If you believe you should be a Core Participant in the Inquiry, please complete our online form for a referral to the Public Inquiry team. Our lawyers can talk you through the pros and cons of applying for Core Participant status, discuss which module(s) might be most relevant and can help you secure independent legal representation if the application is granted.

Core Participant status will be granted on a module-by-module basis. Determinations have already been made in respect of Modules 1 to 3. Further modules are yet to be announced.

Members who achieve Core Participant status in their own right are entitled to separate legal representation. The RCN can advise and assist members in applying for funding from the Inquiry to meet the cost of their independent representation.

This is the biggest Public Inquiry the UK has undertaken, and the scope of the Terms of Reference cannot be understated. The Inquiry will take several years to complete and was opened formally without a fixed end date.

By running the Inquiry through modules, the Chair will be able to produce regular reports with analysis, findings and recommendations, which can be considered and implemented whilst the Inquiry proceeds with the next module. These reports will be written in plain language and will be available to the public.

The Inquiry cannot establish civil or criminal liability, and its report and recommendations will not be binding, however, in practice, they are highly influential in policy formation and may be used to instigate separate civil or criminal proceedings.

The RCN will communicate the publication and findings of each report with members.