FOCUS: Should there be a public inquiry into Jersey's covid response?

Monday 06 September 2021

A Brigadier with experience of dealing with crises has said Jersey politicians have a “duty” to launch a formal public inquiry into the island's response to the pandemic ASAP. Express explores how that could work...

Brigadier Nigel Hall believes that an interim six-month inquiry, whereby politicians, civil servants and health workers give anonymous testimonies, should be carried out by next month to capture the lessons learnt.

Brigadier Hall - who has experience working in the military, UN and NATO - previously spoke to Express in February about his ideas on updating the 'crisis machinery of Government',

Pictured: Brigadier Hall's relationship with the island dates back to 1975 when his parents moved here.

He suggested that an independent 'red team' review should be conducted as soon as possible to harness lessons from medics, policymakers, and Ministers.

He said following this, he sparked the interest of Senator Ian Gorst, who recommended he spoke with former-CEO Charlie Parker about these ideas in March.

Though in this conversation, he had offered to bring in a team of experts to assess the island's pandemic response, the Government decided not to take him up on his offer.

Five months on from this meeting, and with no review in sight, Brigadier Hall is now calling for a formal inquiry into the island's response to the pandemic within the next month, and the lessons that have been learned.

What would the inquiry look like?

Outlining how the inquiry would look, Brigadier Hall wants to see an interrogation of the island's handling of the pandemic, and establishes the safeguards needed in the future - but one that doesn't focus on being a 'witch-hunt', 'talking shop', or 'blame-game exercise'.

"This is not about an attack upon the Government, this is far too serious a situation we're in for that," he said.

Pictured: The Brigadier said the inquiry would encompass all of aspects of the pandemic, including test and trace, how PPE was managed, and the preparation that was made for them.

He cited British medical researcher, and director of the Wellcome Trust, Sir Jeremy Farrar's idea of a "short, sharp" interim report within six months.

The Brigadier suggested that the panel could be organised by a senior former military figure, saying that they would have the necessary experience for such detail.

"Which is the standout organisation that deals with extreme crisis, that is schooled in very detailed pre-planning and then adaptive planning in light of the current circumstances, and which is supremely collaborative because it's dealing with so many agencies and organisations - it's the military," he remarked.

He suggested the panel should be made up of around five members - this could include an appropriate medic, a scientist, a former Chief or Senior Minister for political perspective, and a senior figure from the finance industry.

How would it be carried out?

He said that any inquiry should work on a basis of anonymity and indemnity for any witnesses, so that they can give full and honest accounts to the panel.

"All bureaucracies and all governments have a tendency to go into self-defence mode... So thought needs to be given when you're interviewing as a witness... how they are protected and feel assured that they can give the honest truth in Jersey's way of interest, knowing that that actually is going to contradict what their boss has said."

Pictured: The Brigadier noted that anonymity and complete indemnity would have to be given, so those interviewed can be completely honest, even if it's at odds with what has previously been said.

"One of the criticisms that unscrupulous politicians might say is, 'This diverts too much attention when we're busy doing everything else'," the Brigadier noted.

"No, it doesn't - if you're a Minister or a key medic, you will probably go in front of the inquiry once in the early stages, and then once after... So, at most, over a six-month period, you might be engaged if you're a really key person, two-and-a-half days maximum."

He added that after this six-month interim report, they could then continue following Sir Jeremy Farrar's model, and go for a full 12-month report.

What subjects would be tackled?

The key question of the inquiry, in Brigadier Hall's view, should be: "How come, when we knew for years because it was number one on the risk register, we were so badly caught out? What was wrong with our surveillance and immediate reaction?"

Indeed, last year Express revealed that in Jersey's latest published risk register in 2014, a pandemic was the most likely catastrophic event, and labelled a "very high (red) risk".

Pictured: A pandemic was ranked as a very high risk in the island's risk register.

However, as well as addressing this key question, Brigadier Hall said the inquiry would be all-encompassing, ranging from hospital infrastructure to testing.

"We're talking about everything from the warning, the preparation, the planning, the decision making, the machinery of government, the practical tactical issues, the logistic issues, the nature of the structure here, the relationships between the primary and secondary care homes.

He added that this would also include questions of "the whole business of test and trace, how PPE was managed, and was the preparation done there?"

No more 'dither and delay'

Returning to his own military background, Brigadier Hall focused on the way that the immediacy of army discipline tied in with the response-time needed for a pandemic, an urgency he said had not been felt with the Jersey Government for around 20 years now.

"The decision-making challenge is being compressed in the 21st Century, and the speed of change is just going to get greater - so we've got to be smarter and more agile," he observed.

To encourage this, he returned to his idea of a panel of multi-disciplinary experts giving independent advice in addition to STAC.

"We've got to change the 'dither and delay' Jersey culture, and therefore, if I was Chief Minister, in addition to the Chief Executive... I would really value that other independent strategic group, which would include, in my view, a former Chief Minister in addition to others," he said.

He also said the Government should start tuning into and engaging with more global voices.

"We've got a world-class finance sector, with outstanding networks and instance communication, with precisely the countries in Asia that was with their previous experiences of those other health emergencies, could have given us that advice."

He continued: "Let's set up some Zoom calls with the people in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and let's just ask this question - what are you doing that Public Health England are not telling Jersey to get on and do."

Pictured: Citing Sir Jeremy Farrar, the Brigadier warned that the lessons learned here could be vital if another, even more lethal pandemic was to come along.

As part of this change in pandemic planning and approach, he said that a full and honest inquiry should be undertaken within the next month.

"This is where every States member has got to examine their conscience on the biggest crisis since World War II, and they need to reflect very carefully on what their electors and the people are telling them, and I think on that basis it needs to be a free vote as to how this inquiry is set up and put into gear."

He noted that in a world "custom-built for pandemics", the lessons learned will be needed for if another major health threat materialises.

Echoing Sir Jeremy Farrar, he warned that "the next virus could come tomorrow and it could be very much more lethal - it could be attacking in huge numbers the young, not the elderly.

"So we owe it to the next generations to do everything possible to learn the lessons and to put in place much better structures and decision making processes."