North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has raised concern that the Welsh Government COVID Inquiry Team have said they are “in the hands of the UK Government” and do not have an “organising role” in Exercise Pegasus, the UK-wide pandemic exercise which will test the country’s capabilities, plans, protocols and procedures in the event of another major pandemic.
At the start of this year, it was announced that the country’s preparation for future pandemics will be stepped up by the largest ever national response exercise due to be held in the Autumn.
The exercise will be starting this week and whilst the UK COVID inquiry stated that exercises should involve Ministers and senior officials from the devolved Governments, concern has been raised with Mr Isherwood about whether this is happening.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter in yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament when calling for a Welsh Government Statement on Exercise Pegasus.
He said:
“The UK COVID-19 Inquiry's Module 1 Report called for regular UK-wide pandemic exercises every three years, involving UK Ministers, devolved Governments, the NHS, social care, public health leaders, and external ‘red teams’ to challenge planning and ensure lessons are implemented.
“In consequence, Exercise Pegasus, a Tier 1 National Level Pandemic Simulation, is starting this week and running until November, led by the UK Department for Health and Social Care. However, although the UK COVID inquiry stated that ‘exercises should involve Ministers and senior officials from the devolved administrations’, the Welsh Government COVID Inquiry team told the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru just last week, 'We're a participant rather than having an organising role, so we're in the hands of the UK Government - the Cabinet Office, to be more precise. We've chased them for some info we can pass on to you, but haven't received anything yet'.
“This does not sound like the four-nations approach that the Chair of the UK COVID inquiry wanted.
The families are also concerned that it's only a Tier 1 exercise, which, as far as they know, is ignoring the Module 1 recommendation of a whole-systems exercise and focusing just on the NHS, despite the Inquiry repeatedly criticising all the UK nations for only focusing on the NHS. This Senedd needs and deserves a full and detailed Statement accordingly.”
Responding, the Trefnydd Jane Hutt MS said:
“I will ensure that the role of Welsh Government is clarified and I will write to you and we’ll make sure that that is very clear in terms of wider public understanding and interest.”