Dr Daniele Bryden gives evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry

The RCoA, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) and the Association of Anaesthetists are jointly a Core Participant in Module 3 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which is looking into the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems, patients and healthcare workers. 

On the 8 October Dr Daniele Bryden, Dean of FICM and co-opted member of the RCoA Council, gave oral evidence to the Inquiry on behalf of our three organisations. The questions asked were based on our evidence submission and covered a range of topics including PPE, the redeployment of anaesthetists to intensive care units, the decision to suspend elective care and critical care capacity.   

You can watch Dr Bryden’s evidence session on the Covid-Inquiry YouTube channel.  

The oral evidence session follows our joint opening statement to Module 3 of the Inquiry. On 10 September our legal team delivered a summary of our opening statement directly to Baroness Hallet, the Chair of the Inquiry, setting out what lessons we want the Inquiry to learn from the pandemic.  

We are participating in the Inquiry to represent our members, who comprise over 24,000 doctors and healthcare workers who played a direct and significant role in the UK's response to the pandemic. Our evidence draws on the extensive data and member testimony collected at the time and we thank everyone who contributed.  

Public Hearings for Module 3 of the Covid-19 Inquiry will continue until the end of November, and we will update members on our closing submission in due course. In the meantime, you can read our weekly summaries of the hearings, produced by the Association of Anaesthetists with thanks.