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Covid Inquiry Module 3

Previously, the Chair of the Covid Inquiry announced that the Inquiry would be split into modules, with each module investigating a different area of the pandemic, from the Government’s preparedness to their response. Module 1 of the Inquiry will investigate the Government’s preparedness and resilience for a pandemic, while Module 2 will investigate the Government’s decision-making processes. You can read more on that here. 

Baroness Hallett, Chair of the Covid Inquiry, officially opened Module 3 of the Covid Inquiry on 8th November 2022, which will look into the governmental and societal response to Covid as well as dissecting the impact that the pandemic had on healthcare systems, patients and health care workers. A preliminary hearing for Module 3 took place on 27th September 2023. Further preliminary hearings will be announced in 2024.  It is expected that hearings for this module will begin in Autumn 2024. 

You can watch the hearings live, subject to a three-minute delay, via YouTube by clicking here. To see all of the public information about the Inquiry, please visit their website here. 

Nicola Brook has also re-started the Covid Inquiry Podcast, discussing what has happened on a weekly basis in court. You can also listen to all previous and recent installments on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Module 3 scope

Baroness Hallett has said that Module 3 will “examine the impact of Covid, and of the governmental and societal responses to it, on healthcare systems generally and on patients, hospital and other healthcare workers and staff. Among other issues, it will investigate healthcare systems and governance, hospitals, primary care (including GPs and dentists), the impact on NHS backlogs and non-Covid treatment, the effects on healthcare provision of vaccination programmes and Long Covid diagnosis and support.”

Unlike Module 2, Module 3 will not be split into submodules, meaning Module 3 alone will cover this scope across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Baroness Hallett has outlined a provisional scope for this module, and will examine:

  1. The impact of Covid-19 on people’s experience of healthcare.
  2. Core decision-making and leadership within healthcare systems during the pandemic.
  3. Staffing levels and critical care capacity, the establishment and use of Nightingale hospitals and the use of private hospitals.
  4. 111, 999 and ambulance services, GP surgeries and hospitals and cross-sectional co-operation between services.
  5. Healthcare provision and treatment for patients with Covid-19, healthcare systems’ response to clinical trials and research during the pandemic. The allocation of staff and resources. The impact on those requiring care for reasons other than Covid-19. Quality of treatment for Covid-19 and nonCovid-19 patients, delays in treatment, waiting lists and people not seeking or receiving treatment. Palliative care. The discharge of patients from hospital.
  6. Decision-making about the nature of healthcare to be provided for patients with Covid-19, its escalation and the provision of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including the use of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions (DNACPRs).
  7. The impact of the pandemic on doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff, including on those in training and specific groups of healthcare workers (for example by reference to ethnic background). Availability of healthcare staff. The NHS surcharge for non-UK healthcare staff and the decision to remove the surcharge.
  8. Preventing the spread of Covid-19 within healthcare settings, including infection control, the adequacy of PPE and rules about visiting those in hospital.
  9. Communication with patients with Covid-19 and their loved ones about patients’ condition and treatment, including discussions about DNACPRs.
  10. Deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, in terms of the numbers, classification and recording of deaths, including the impact on specific groups of healthcare workers, for example by reference to ethnic background and geographical location.
  11. Shielding and the impact on the clinically vulnerable (including those referred to as “clinically extremely vulnerable”).
  12. Characterisation and identification of Post-Covid Condition (including the condition referred to as long Covid) and its diagnosis and treatment.

You can read the full provision scope document here.

Core Participant Status for Module 3

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group have been awarded Core Participant status in Module 3 of the Covid Inquiry, with Broudie Jackson Canter instructed as their Recognised Legal Representative. 

If you are bereaved and aren’t involved in the Inquiry but wish to be, we encourage you to join the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group to make sure you have a voice in this Inquiry.

Join the group