Top scientists and health professionals are calling for an urgent public inquiry into the Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
They warn that lessons must be learned from the handling of the deadly disease before a second spike or thousands more lives will be needlessly lost.
The experts branded the death toll in care homes a “scandal” and attacked the Government for failing to deal adequately with the first wave of Covid-19.
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for an independent inquiry launched by campaign group March for Change.
Ministers have not yet agreed to a public inquiry but have accepted that there will have to be a moment where they have to look back.
At the No 10 briefing, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Of course in any public health crisis there will be a time for lessons to be learned afterwards.”
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But Justice Secretary Robert Buckland added: “It would be very difficult now to judge what happened in March, bearing in mind the change in our knowledge.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said it was “inevitable” there would be an official inquiry but the party has not yet called for one.
However, it has demanded a probe into Covid-19 deaths in care homes, saying staff and residents had been tragically let down.
Dr Kailash Chand, former deputy chair of the BMA Council, said: “The UK is a world-leader in the fields of science and healthcare, and our NHS is the envy of the world.
“Despite this, we now have the highest number of deaths in Europe and the situation in our care homes is nothing short of a scandal.
“Governments and media from across the globe, from Australia to Germany, are using the UK as an example of how not to tackle the crisis.
“It is time that we, the public, hold this government to account by demanding an urgent and independent public inquiry.”
His concerns were echoed by Professor Dame Anne Glover, President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh who said: “More than 1 in 10 of coronavirus deaths worldwide have been in the UK. The UK government has struggled to deliver an effective response.
“Faced with the potential of a second wave this winter, compounded with seasonal flu, we now need an urgent and independent public inquiry to ensure we all learn the lessons while we still have time to prepare.”
Professor Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added: “We clearly failed in the first wave and, with the possibility of a second wave come winter, we must make every effort to learn the lessons and be better prepared.
“The public inquiry must be fast, independent and transparent to ensure we never again allow our NHS and care workers – and all key workers – to fight this battle without the adequate support and protection.”
Dr Mike Galsworthy, co-founder of March for Change, said: "If an inquiry is not held now, lessons will go unlearned and that will cost lives should a further coronavirus wave hit us.
"Time is of the essence here, particularly with an eye on the winter months – there have been too many unnecessary deaths, too many grieving relatives already.
"We owe it to our frontline staff and carers everywhere to learn lessons right now and better protect the NHS and vulnerable before the difficult months to come.”
