MiP has called for clear guidance for NHS managers on how to prepare for the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, after ministers unveiled wide-ranging terms of reference for the probe to be headed by former appeal court judge Baroness Heather Hallett.

Hallett (pictured), who is due to start work this spring, will examine the impact on NHS staff, the capacity of the health and care services to respond to the crisis, and controversial decisions such as the timing of lockdowns and the discharge of patients from hospitals to care homes.

Commenting on the terms of reference, MiP chief executive Jon Restell said: “Some managers have been given clear instructions while others haven’t been told anything at all. There needs to be some consistent guidance about securing evidence or how to prepare for potential involvement in the inquiry.

“We don’t want to see managers accused retrospectively of concealing or destroying evidence when they were just following normal protocols,” he added.

The Hallett inquiry will produce a “factual narrative account” of the handling of the pandemic, the government said, focusing on “lessons to be learned” rather than “apportioning blame” for mistakes made. According to the terms of reference, the inquiry will “listen to the experiences of bereaved families”, but “will not investigate individual cases of harm or death in detail”.

In examining the response of the NHS and social care system, the Hallet inquiry will look at:

• preparedness and initial capacity to respond to the pandemic
• the management of the pandemic in hospitals, including “the impact on staff and staffing levels”
• the management of the pandemic in other care settings, including the transfer of residents to or from care homes
• the procurement and distribution of equipment and supplies, including PPE and ventilators
• the development and delivery of therapeutics and vaccines
• the impact of the pandemic on non-Covid related care
• provision for people experiencing long covid

The inquiry will also examine the public health aspects of the pandemic, including the operation of the test and trace system and the vaccine roll-out, as well as the government’s economic response. The inquiry covers all four countries of the UK and will consider devolved and reserved issues as required.

• For more information, visit the inquiry website