Reviews / 2024
UK COVID-19 Inquiry, Module 1: resilience and preparedness
Baroness Hallett · work from 2022 · published 2024
What this was
The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is a statutory inquiry still in progress. Module 1, on resilience and preparedness, reported in July 2024. Later modules cover political decision-making, the health and care impact, and other parts of the response. This entry tracks the inquiry as a whole and summarises what Module 1 has already said.
Why it sits in the hub
It is the largest current inquiry touching the NHS. Its preparedness findings — complexity, inequality, and a system built for the wrong pandemic — sit alongside the operational harm described in other reviews.
Findings
Finding 1
The UK was not adequately prepared for a non-influenza pandemic. Structures for civil emergencies were too complex.
Finding 2
Preparedness did not account for how a pandemic would hit people unequally, including people in care and from minority ethnic groups.
Recommendations in this hub
Paraphrase of the public recommendations, not the official text.
- 1In progressUK government and devolved administrations
Simplify how the UK prepares for civil emergencies, and practise those arrangements.
Module 1 recommendations were published in 2024. The inquiry itself continues.
- 2In progressGovernment
Build inequality into pandemic planning rather than treating it as a later finding.