The decision not to include it in hearings later this year means the issue may not be examined properly until 2025. It is unlikely to be included in modules already scheduled for the first half of next year, which focus on vaccines, procurement and Test and Trace.Dr Sarah Hughes, the chief executive of Mind, said key questions about the impact of mental health during the pandemic were going unanswered.“The millions of people who suffered and who continue to suffer the mental health impacts of the pandemic will not have their voices heard,” she added.“We’ve come so far in recent years to put mental health on an equal footing with physical health, but that is not reflected in the inquiry’s approach. Today’s decision means key questions will go unanswered, questions like: Why was there no public mental health plan? Why were the psychiatric hospitals emptied at the same time as community care was shut down? There are many more questions and stories to be told.”She added that the decision went against the belief that mental health and physical health should be treated equally and that lessons must be learned from the pandemic.“The scale of mental health problems during and after Covid-19 is profound,” she said. “The numbers of people seeking but not getting the help they need sadly confirms what we all feared, a crisis that hasn’t eased in 2024. The reality of what happened must not be ignored and lessons must be learned. If we really believe mental and physical health should be considered equally then we must see a reversal of this decision. There is still time for the inquiry to do the right thing.”‘Not possible to examine all areas’In her ruling, Lady Hallett said that “it is simply not possible or necessary to examine all areas of non Covid-19 care in detail” and she was not able to broaden module 3 while ensuring the timetable was adhered to.“I note that the inquiry’s terms of reference include the ‘impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the population’,” she said. “This connotes a wider remit than access to and the impact on services for adult mental health. Other modules will assist in exploring this.”She said there were other ways the inquiry can gather evidence such as independent research it had commissioned and its listening exercise, Every Story Matters, adding: “I intend to utilise a combination of approaches to address this aspect of the inquiry’s terms of reference.”Lady Hallett’s decision comes after almost 30 organisations warned that she risked letting down millions of people if the inquiry did not adequately consider the impact Covid, and its multiple lockdowns, had on the public’s mental health.Those who followed the pandemic restrictions most closely are the most likely to be suffering from stress, anxiety and depression, according to a study by academics at Bangor University published last year.Post-pandemic surgeChildren were also affected, with the number reported to have some form of disability now totalling one in nine following a post-pandemic surge in mental health conditions and behavioural disorders.Official figures state that the number of under-16s with a recorded disability has risen by more than a third in just two years since the pandemic.The inquiry goes to Belfast this week where it will examine the Northern Irish response to the pandemic, having already visited Edinburgh and Cardiff for similar investigations.The inquiry’s terms of reference mean Lady Hallett must examine the issue. A spokesman for the inquiry said: “The chair, Baroness Hallett, has explained that the inquiry will cover the pandemic’s impact on the mental health of the population throughout our investigations, including module 3, as well as our UK-wide listening exercise, Every Story Matters.“Public hearings for module 3, investigating the impact of the pandemic on the UK’s healthcare systems, will start in September 2024. They will include consideration of in-patient children and adolescent mental health services – now referred to as children and young people’s mental health services. Other module hearings are scheduled to run until 2026.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/29/covid-inquiry-accused-ignoring-lockdown-mental-health/
