The UK Covid-19 Inquiry (the Inquiry) public hearings for module 2 began on 3 October 2023 and will conclude on 14 December 2023.

Module 2 is focused on core political and administrative governance and decision-making for the UK. It will examine the initial response, central government decision making, political and civil service performance as well as the effectiveness of relationships with governments in the devolved administrations and local and voluntary sectors. It will also assess decision-making about non-pharmaceutical measures and the factors that contributed to their implementation.

In this week the Inquiry heard from witnesses including Lord Gus O’Donnell, Sir Mark Walport, Professor Sir Ian Diamond and experts in epidemiology. The Inquiry heard evidence on: health inequalities and structural discrimination, the use of the Covid-19 government response tracker, testing and the use of data.

This briefing summarises the proceedings most relevant to NHS trusts, and is the second in the series of weekly briefings on the Inquiry’s public hearings on module 2.