Summary

  • Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has continued to give evidence at the Covid inquiry

  • He voiced his opinion on the essential need for early lockdowns, and says they are crucial to mitigate healthcare worker burnout

  • Hancock says he was "pleased" with how the vaccine rollout went, adding that "there are strong voices opposed" but "saving lives is more important"

  • Hancock defends the shielding programme and says his "responsibility was to society and, in particular, the most vulnerable"

  • Hancock accepts responsibility for Covid failings - up to a point, says BBC Health editor Hugh Pym, from the inquiry

Live Reporting

Edited by Matt Spivey with Hugh Pym at the inquiry and Jim Reed

  1. The questions facing Matt Hancock

    Jim Reed
    Reporting from the inquiry

    We're expecting to hear from Matt Hancock around 10:00 this morning.

    A well-known face in the pandemic, he stood down as an MP at the last general election.

    He served as health secretary for England from 2018 until he stepped down in June 2021 after security footage was leaked to the press showing him kissing an aide in his office.

    This will be his third appearance at the inquiry. For the next day and a half he'll be asked just about the impact of Covid on the NHS and healthcare.

    Expect a wide range of issues to come up - from the availability of PPE for doctors and nurses, to the impact of visiting restrictions in hospitals to the use of so-called "Do Not Resuscitate" orders.

    There's also likely to be a focus on the longer term effects of Covid on waiting lists for other planned treatment - from hip replacements to heart surgery.

    His testimony this week follows appearances by other former health ministers from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

    Then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock wearing a union flag face mask in 2020PA Media

  2. What is the Covid inquiry?

    The Covid inquiry's latest round of public hearings begin in September, to consider how coronavirus affected healthcare systems across the UK.

    In July, the inquiry's first report said the UK's flawed pandemic preparations led to more deaths and greater economic damage than there should have been.

    Just under 227,000 people died in the UK with Covid between March 2020 and May 2023, when the World Health Organization (WHO) said the "global health emergency" was over.

    The Covid inquiry was launched by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in June 2022 and the first public hearings took place a year later.

    The inquiry is chaired by former judge and crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, who previously led the inquests into the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

  3. Matt Hancock appears at the Covid Inquiry for a third time

    Rob Corp
    Live editor

    Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, wearing a blue winter coat, arrives at the Covid Inquiry in central London on Thursday 21 NovemberPA Media

    Morning - we're back at the Covid Inquiry in central London which is examining the UK's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock is in the witness chair for the third time as the inquiry looks at how the healthcare systems across the UK nations coped with the first global pandemic in living memory.

    It's examining not just how the NHS and government responded - but how we as a society met the challenge of a virus that would cause the deaths of more than 200,000 people across Britain and Northern Ireland.

    Hancock of course was in charge of the Covid response for England and drew up the rules we were supposed to follow - until he had to quit the post in 2021 for breaking his own social-distancing guidelines.

    We'll be here with text updates from our health editor Hugh Pym and health correspondent Jim Reed who are the inquiry and you can watch proceedings live when the hearing gets under way at 10:00 GMT.