'Too complex' Wales Covid plan damned by inquiry

First Minister Vaughan Gething calls the report's publication an "important moment" for bereaved families and frontline NHS staff

The Welsh government has been strongly criticised over its preparations for the Covid pandemic.

The public inquiry looking into the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic said the system in Wales was "labyrinthine" and "hampered by undue complexity".

In a damning report, UK Covid-19 Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett said the UK government and devolved nations had "failed their citizens" as they planned for the wrong pandemic.

First Minister Vaughan Gething said he welcomed the first report from the inquiry and that its publication was an "important moment" for the bereaved families and frontline NHS staff.

A group representing families bereaved by Covid in Wales said they had been failed by the Welsh government.

In its first report into preparedness for a pandemic, the inquiry said the UK government's sole pandemic strategy from 2011 "was outdated and lacked adaptability", adding that "it was never properly tested and the doctrine that underpinned was ultimately abandoned".

"Processes, planning and policy of structures failed the citizens of all four nations," she added.

Baroness Hallett said the inquiry was recommending a fundamental reform of the UK government and devolved nations' preparedness for civil emergencies.

She suggested a radical simplification of preparedness systems, rationalising and streamlining bureaucracy, a new approach to risk assessment, and a new UK-wide approach which learns lessons from the past and takes proper account of existing inequalities.

In Wales, the report referred to the evidence given to the inquiry by Dr Andrew Goodall, the head of the civil service in the Welsh government.

The inquiry "was not persuaded" by civil service chief Andrew Goodall's argument that the system made more sense to those within it than outside.

It said: "For an administration that prided itself on its efficiency of movement because of its relative lack of scale, and which had described itself as operating effectively under one roof, the reality did not match the rhetoric.

"The system was labyrinthine".

The inquiry "was not persuaded" by mitigation offered by Dr Goodall that it made more sense to those within the system than those outside of it.

"An opportunity to create a coherent and therefore dynamic system in Wales had been hampered by undue complexity" it said.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Welsh government had "failed us".

"We knew they'd failed us and instead of listening they turned their backs on us," the group said.

"Welsh Labour must now stop blocking a Wales Covid inquiry."

They added: "This cannot happen again and yet there is no indication 4.5 years on that any progress has been made. Wales still does not have its own risk register."

It added that the report had been able to "uncover a lot of deficiencies in systems in Wales", but said it was "UK/England heavy".

Welsh Conservatives called the report "a damning indictment of Labour’s handling of the pandemic".

Tory Senedd group leader Andrew RT Davies said it was "abundantly clear" from the report that Labour ministers were "out of their depth and had no idea" of the state of pandemic readiness.

"We need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry to rectify these blatant errors." he added.

Plaid Cymru's health spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor also repeated calls for a Wales-specific public inquiry.

He said the report would "make difficult reading for bereaved families and our thoughts are with them today".

"A picture of over-complex structures, lack of accountability, important work left unfinished and a general feeling of unwarranted over-confidence in preparedness plans is laid out in stark terms by Baroness Hallett".

He added: "It is of deep concern to read that some of the lessons have not been learned".

The Welsh government has ruled out a Wales-specific inquiry into the pandemic. However a Senedd committee has been tasked with "identifying gaps" in the preparedness and response of the Welsh government and other Welsh public bodies.

Mr Gething said the Welsh government would now study the inquiry recommendations and fully respond to them.

He said the Welsh government was "committed to open and constructive work" with the other UK administrations and would be "building on this in response to the report".