A leading medic in Wales has told the COVID inquiry that some non-flu pandemic counter measures had been “prematurely dismissed”.
Sir Frank Atherton, the Welsh government’s chief medical officer, was giving evidence to the COVID inquiry on Monday.
“They had been considered of course but discounted for various reasons and with the benefit of hindsight, discounted without sufficient consideration,” he said.
“The role of these counter measures had very little evidence.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we could and should have paid more attention to the ‘what if’ questions.
“What if the virus was so different that we needed to go down some of these but at the time, I think it’s fair to say that those measures had been considered and somewhat prematurely dismissed.”
Sir Frank Atherton works with the Welsh government’s department on public health.
His duties also include the development of health and care research in Wales and maintaining links with other UK chief medical officers, according to the Welsh government’s website.
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Sir Frank told the inquiry that Welsh government ministers had “always been receptive” to advice.
“They haven’t always followed it diligently or entirely, but they’ve always listened very carefully to what I have to say,” he said.
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Sir Frank said “Operation Yellow Hammer” – the name given to the preparations for a no-deal Brexit – meant resources had been redeployed from pandemic preparation.
“Resources were moved to other issues,” he said. “The work had all stalled.”
The former NHS Wales chief executive also began his evidence to the inquiry on Monday.
“The EU exit arrangement ended up being a priority over and above some of the underlying resilience activities,” said Dr Andrew Goodall.
Dr Goodall was chief executive of NHS Wales and director general of health and social services during the pandemic – a role he held since 2014.
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He was appointed the Welsh government’s permanent secretary in September 2021.
First Minister Mark Drakeford and former Welsh government health minister Vaughan Gething are due to give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday.
