Inquiry Newsletter - July 2025 - UK Covid-19 Inquiry

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry Newsletter dated July 2025.

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Message from Kate Eisenstein, Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry and Director of Policy, Research and Legal

Photo of Kate Eisenstein

Welcome to the July newsletter. Hearings are currently ongoing for our investigation into the impact of the pandemic on the adult social care sector (Module 6) and we share some information about what we have heard so far from witnesses in this newsletter. Throughout the hearings we have heard evidence from bereaved family members who lost loved ones in care settings, representatives of people who were working in care homes during the pandemic, care sector regulators and key decision makers. The oral evidence we are hearing will combine with other sources of evidence, including the Every Story Matters: Adult Social Care record, to inform the Chair of the Inquiry, Baroness Hallett’s, findings and recommendations in relation to Module 6.

The Inquiry will be publishing Baroness Hallett’s reports which include recommendations on Module 6 and other investigations throughout its lifetime. Many of you will be aware that, following the publication of Baroness Hallett’s first report regarding pandemic preparedness and resilience (Module 1) we received responses from the governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Executive. As per our recommendations monitoring process, the Inquiry will continue to monitor the implementation of recommendations during its lifetime. We share information on the latest we have heard from the UK, Welsh and Scottish governments and the Northern Ireland Executive regarding Module 1 in this newsletter. We welcome these updates given the importance of implementing the Inquiry’s recommendations as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your interest in the Inquiry. You will receive our next newsletter on 29 September, when public hearings for our Module 8 investigation into the impact of the pandemic on children and young people will begin, running through to 23 October.

Update on public hearings for our Module 6 investigation into the care sector

Hearings for the Inquiry’s investigation into the adult social care sector are running from Monday 30 June to Thursday 31 July 2025. So far in this investigation we have heard from witnesses about topics such as:

The impact of visiting restrictions on care recipients and their families.
Concerns regarding the application of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices.
Pre-pandemic preparedness of the care sector, which many witnesses described as already fragile due to staffing gaps and financial challenges.
The policy to hasten discharges from hospitals and its impact on care homes and domiciliary care.
Limitations in testing capacity and the implications for infection control in care settings.
Challenges surrounding the provision and use of PPE in the adult social care sector.
The suspension of routine inspections in care homes from March 2020 across most regulatory bodies, including the Care Quality Commission, Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, Care Inspectorate Wales and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland.
Ministers’ concerns about having limited visibility of what was happening in care homes and the gaps in data collection and sharing between care providers, regulatory bodies and government.
Coordination challenges between different agencies and government and the difficulties disseminating information for care providers trying to keep up with changing guidance.

Clockwise from top left: Jane Wier-Wierzbowska ( Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice); Professor Fu-Meng Khaw ( Public Health Wales); Emily Holzhausen CBE (Carers UK); Agnes McCusker (Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Northern Ireland) providing evidence to the Inquiry during Module 6 hearings

The Every Story Matters: Adult Social Care record has been referred to at various points during Module 6 hearings, including by Baroness Hallett and Lead Counsel to the Inquiry for Module 6, Jac Carey KC on the first day of hearings. It continues to be referenced in the hearing room, including by:

Counsel to the Inquiry when questioning Matt Hancock on 2 July, Sir Sajid Javid on 14 July and Vaughan Gething on 15 July
Legal representatives of Core Participants (who are individuals or organisations with specific rights in the Inquiry process, including the ability to question witnesses) during submissions on 30 June and when questioning Vaughan Gething on 15 July

You can view the timetable (including list of witnesses) for each week of hearings on the Inquiry website. This is updated weekly every Thursday while hearings are in progress.

Recordings of the hearings can be watched on YouTube while transcripts are published daily on the Inquiry’s website alongside any written evidence disclosed during the hearings. You can subscribe to our weekly hearing updates via the newsletter page of the Inquiry website for a regular summary of what we heard during hearings and details of the following week’s timetable.

Update on the response from government to the Module 1 recommendations

This month the UK, Welsh and Scottish governments and the Northern Ireland Executive published updates on progress on actioning the recommendations made in Baroness Hallett’s Module 1 report regarding pandemic preparedness and resilience, which was published in July 2024.

Links to the responses we have received to date in relation to the Module 1 report from the governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive are set out on the recommendations monitoring page, including subsequent correspondence sent by Baroness Hallett to each administration.

Follow the Inquiry on Bluesky

The Inquiry has recently launched a profile on Bluesky, where we will be posting updates on Inquiry news and progress in addition to our other social media accounts on X, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.