Vaughan Gething has admitted he hadn't read the results of a key investigation into the UK's preparedness for a major pandemic while he was health minister. In an uncomfortable and embarrassing exchange at the UK Covid Inquiry, economy minister Vaughan Gething, who was health minister from 2016 and throughout the Covid pandemic, admitted he hadn't read a key document relating to how ready the UK was for a pandemic such as Covid.
Exercise Cygnus was a three-day simulation exercise carried out by the UK Government in October 2016 to estimate the impact of a hypothetical influenza pandemic on the United Kingdom. It found serious shortcomings in how ready we were to deal with this kind of scenario.
Under the grilling of the committee's barristers, Mr Gething was asked if he "had any direct involvement in exercise Cygnus in October 2016." To this Mr Gething said: "Yes, I attended ministerial meetings on both days as requested. My deputy at the time also attended some of those exercises as requested. So on both of the days when ministerial attendance was requested we both participated.
"It involved a range of people, I remember having the briefing with Dr Atherton and I remember sitting down in the basin of Cathays Park control centre where it was run from and participating in those meetings."
He was then asked if he felt it was "important" that "all relevant learning from Exercise Cygnus was carried forwards and incorporated into Wales pandemic planning."
In response Mr Gething said yes and that he "understood there would be lessons learnt...and I expected that the learning from that would then be implemented". He added that "my own impressions from the exercise were that they were positives and were things that I'd expect to be worked on".
The barrister then pointed to a part of Mr Gething's written statement where he said he was "advised that learning points had been identified and would be implemented either in whole or in part", adding that: "For that reason, I assumed, absent any advice to the contrary or questions in the Senedd, that the lessons of Exercise Cygnus had been applied".
She then asked him straight: "Did you read the Exercise Cygnus report Mr Gething?" A clearly floundering Mr Gething, then said: "I can't recall which report you're referring to because there are a number of notes that come after it. And there is then the briefings which are received from officials. So just to be clear of which report...". He was then interrupted and the contents of the report were put on the screen.
This excerpt that was shown to Mr Gething said: "Reports from the organizations participating in the exercise indicate that the UK's command and control and emergency response structures provide a sound basis for the response to pandemic influenza. However, the UK's preparedness and response in terms of its plans, policies, and capability is currently not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic that will have a nationwide impact across all sectors."
The inquiry questioner then asked: "Do you remember reading that in October of 2016?" to which the former health minister said "No". She then asked "Had you read it, would that have caused you some concern?"
Mr Gething then replied: "If I had read that, I think that I almost certainly would have asked more questions and asked for more assurance about what was happening."
The barrister then asked: "Can we take it that you didn't read the report?" to which Mr Gething said: "No, I didn't. I didn't, I did not read this report. I recognize the front now.
"My advisors fed back and you've got the documents, that there was a need for improvements, there was a need for learning to be applied."
Commenting on Mr Gething's appearence, Welsh Conservative shadow health minister Russell George MS said: “Vaughan Gething’s questioning at the UK Covid Inquiry was very telling. He admitted that he hadn’t read several key documents including the UK influenza pandemic preparedness strategy until needing to do so to prepare for the inquiry.
“He was also unable to identify pandemic influenza as a ‘tier one risk’ even today and did not commission any evidence into the hazard of pandemic influenza, despite stating that he may have done had he read one of the documents. The fact that he described himself as a layman, having no experience or knowledge of pandemic preparedness despite being in post as Health Minister for four years, will not hold water with the public.
“Likewise, given his failure to answer basic questions, the people of Wales will be shocked to hear him state that preparedness would have been improved if he had spent more time reading and making himself aware of the difficulties.”
Responding to the UK Covid Inquiry evidence sessions with Mr Gething, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and care, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said: “It is clear from the evidence heard to date that the pandemic planning in Wales was seriously inadequate, and there was much Welsh Government could and should have done to enable us to be better prepared.
“World experts were warning of an influenza style pandemic – even Hollywood made a film about it! If Hollywood knew about it, then I would expect Welsh Government to have read anything that would have helped them better prepare for a global pandemic. The Exercise Cygnus Report – with ‘Pandemic Influenza’ on the front cover is one such example.
“Plaid Cymru has been clear since the early days of the pandemic that the decisions made in Wales should be scrutinised in Wales. The fact we’re barely scratching the surface in this UK Covid Inquiry points again to the fact that we deserve our own, Wales-specific Covid inquiry.”
