Chris Whitty to be questioned on ‘stay at home’ messaging at Covid inquiry

England’s chief medical officer is to be quizzed on the impact the pandemic had on the NHS.

Professor Sir Chris Whitty is to face questions when he appears before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday.

Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett is examining the impact of the crisis on NHS workers, patients and the delivery of healthcare.

Module three of the inquiry is looking at the governmental and societal response to Covid-19 by assessing the impact of the pandemic on how NHS services were delivered.

This will include how managers led the pandemic response, the role of primary care and GPs, NHS backlogs, and how the vaccine programme was integrated.

The diagnosis of long Covid and the support offered to those affected will also be examined.

Sir Chris, who became a well-known figure during the crisis due to his regular appearances at Downing Street press conferences, is likely to be asked about the “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” messaging deployed at the start of the pandemic.

Former chief nursing officer for England Dame Ruth May was asked about the messaging when she appeared before the inquiry earlier in the month.

Asked if the message “got the balance wrong”, she replied: “In hindsight I wish it was, ‘stay at home but not if you’re pregnant’… in hindsight, yes.”

It comes as a charity said the Government “missed opportunities” to support the nation’s mental health during the pandemic.

A report from the Centre for Mental Health said the pandemic caused “collective trauma” from the effects of isolation, bereavement and fear, and longer term trauma of health care workers and the psychological legacy among children and young people of disrupted education.

Andy Bell, chief executive of the charity and co-author of the report, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the nation’s mental health hard.

“A lack of government planning, and the absence of any strategy to mitigate harms, meant that both short-term and long-lasting mental health harms occurred that are still visible four years on.

“It is truly shocking that people with a mental illness were so disproportionately affected by the virus itself, exacerbating existing health inequalities and widening the already vast life expectancy gap.

“In the wake of the Darzi review, today’s report is yet more evidence that the NHS requires system-wide change to meet rising levels of need following the pandemic.

“We call on the Covid public inquiry and the UK Government to take the evidence we have amassed seriously and ensure that we learn the right lessons from the pandemic about its relationship with the nation’s mental health.

“Sidelining mental health yet again will leave us unprepared for future emergencies and their consequences. The people’s mental health deserves better.”

Elsewhere, the BBC reported that Baroness Hallett has refused an application from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to keep the identities of two junior clinicians secret.

Lawyers for UKHSA applied for an order preventing publication of their names, on the grounds they could be subject to abuse and harassment on social media and in person.

Both attended Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Cell meetings during the pandemic to discuss guidance on masks and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Critics have said the IPC Cell failed to strengthen recommendations on PPE after it became clear how Covid was spread, costing lives.

Baroness Hallett said the names could be published in minutes of those meetings, as any risk was outweighed by the public interest.