The second report of the COVID-19 Inquiry has identified serious failings in the UK’s political governance and decision-making during the pandemic and makes 19 recommendations.
Issues include chaotic leadership structures, a lack of urgency in recognising the scale of the threat, and delays in implementing restrictions. The Inquiry found that the UK’s governments were repeatedly “too little, too late”, with lockdowns only becoming inevitable because of inaction and omissions – as Professor Vallance outlined, they were “flying blind but I don’t think we knew how blind we were”.
The Inquiry acknowledged the immense pressure on ministers and officials but stressed that poor governance compounded the crisis. It concluded that 23,000 lives were lost in the first wave alone due to delayed action.
The Inquiry’s second report is not just a record of past failings – it is a roadmap for reform. Diagnostics must be placed at the heart of that change to ensure proper planning and preparedness for future pandemics. If the UK had been better prepared, more lives would have been saved, suffering minimised, and the economic impact of the pandemic significantly reduced.
From a diagnostic perspective, Professor Whitty notes – with regards to a test and trace system at the start of 2020 – that the ability to scale up diagnostic testing requires advance planning as “(it) cannot simply be switched on from a standard start once an emergency has began”. However, as BIVDA outlined in our evidence, in some situations this wasn’t the case. For example, in 2020 there was a lateral flow workstream in the manufacturing coalition which met Public Health England’s then requirement for validation – which could have resulted in 4,000,000 of these tests being available each day – which Test and Trace did not seem to be aware of.
The Inquiry highlights that this lack of alignment was further heightened across the four nations – including with the absence of adequate plans for increasing manufacturing and laboratory facilities, which countries like South Korea were able to do.
BIVDA welcomes the Inquiry’s findings and its recommendations, including for reform of the UK Government and devolved administrations’ preparations for whole-system civil emergencies, and the creation of a new independent statutory body to support planning. Whilst many of these recommendations align with the themes within our paper, Lessons Learnt from the IVD Procurement During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we continue to call for greater alignment and stronger action to advance dialogue on procurement issues affecting diagnostics.
We are conscious that many of our members had a bruising experience during the pandemic, as they sought to respond to urgent calls from government amidst unclear processes and shifting priorities. Rebuilding trust with the diagnostic industry is essential.
Our sector will be a key partner in the next pandemic. Therefore, the lessons of this report must translate into genuine collaboration, investment and preparedness. There must be a clear commitment, coupled with tangible actions, to engage with the UK’s diagnostics sector on pandemic preparedness to guarantee the mistakes of the last pandemic are not repeated, and ensure the NHS is best equipped to face the challenges of tomorrow.
