UK needs urgent Covid-19 inquiry before we are hit by a second wave

Despite strenuous efforts by health professionals and scientists inside and outside government, the UK has experienced one of the highest death rates from Covid-19 in the world, with the poor and certain minority ethnic groups affected especially badly.

If, as seems probable, there is a second wave this winter, many more will die unless we find quick, practical solutions to some of the structural problems that have made implementing an effective response so difficult. These include the fragmentation, in England, of the NHS, public health and social care; the failure of those in Westminster to engage with local government and devolved nations; the channels by which scientific evidence feeds into policy; and an inability to plan for necessary goods and services, and procure them.

We call on all political parties to commit to a rapid, transparent, expert inquiry to address these issues. This must avoid diverting the efforts of those responding to the crisis or apportioning blame, but should propose feasible ways to overcome the obstacles faced by those on the frontline of the response and help them to save lives.

Dr JS Bamrah Chairman, British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Prof RS Bhopal Emeritus professor of public health, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh
Dr Kailash Chand Former deputy chair, British Medical Association council
Prof Anthony Costello Professor of global health, University College London; former director, World Health Organization; member of independent Sage committee
Prof Majid Ezzati Chair in global environmental health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Prof Ilora Finlay House of Lords
Prof Karl Friston Computational modeller and neuroscientist, University College London, in charge of developing a generative SEIR (susceptible, exposed, infectious, recovered) Covid-19 model; member of independent Sage committee
Prof Ruth Gilbert Professor of clinical epidemiology, University College London
Dr Mike Gill Former regional director of public health
Sir Ian Gilmore Chair, Alcohol Health Alliance
Prof Mark S Gilthorpe Professor of statistical epidemiology, University of Leeds; fellow, Alan Turing Institute
Dr Fiona Godlee Editor-in-chief, the BMJ
Prof Trisha Greenhalgh Professor of primary care, University of Oxford
Dr Katie Harron UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Richard Horton Editor-in-chief, the Lancet
Prof David McCoy Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Prof Nuala McGrath Professor of epidemiology and sexual health, and NIHR global health professor, University of Southampton
Prof Martin McKee Professor of European public health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Prof Susan Michie Director, Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London; member of independent Sage committee
Dr Miriam Orcutt Senior research fellow, Institute for Global Health, University College London
Prof Christina Pagel Mathematician and professor of operational research, University College London; member of independent Sage committee
Prof Neil Pearce Professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Prof Deenan Pillay Professor of virology, University College London; former member of Sage; member of independent Sage committee
Prof Allyson Pollock Co-director, Centre for Excellence in Regulatory Science, Newcastle University; member of independent Sage committee
Prof Devi Sridhar Professor and chair of global public health, University of Edinburgh
Prof Helen Ward Professor of public health, Imperial College London
Dr Sarah Wollaston Former chair, health and social care select committee; former MP for Totnes