The UK Covid-19 Inquiry's (the Inquiry) public hearings for module 1 commenced on 13 June 2023 and will conclude on 21 July. 

Module 1 is investigating government planning and preparedness and will examine the period between June 2009 (when the World Health Organisation [WHO] announced that scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic had been met) and 21 January 2020 (when the WHO issued the first situation report on what would become the Covid-19 pandemic). The Inquiry has been considering evidence on this module since on 21 July 2022 gathered through rule 9 requests under the Inquiries Rules 2006 and three preliminary hearings.

This briefing summarises the proceedings most relevant to NHS trusts, and is the first in the series of weekly briefings on the Inquiry’s public hearings.