Covid inquiry accused of ignoring reality of mental health problems caused by lockdown

The charity Mind has called on the chair of the Covid inquiry to assess the impact the Covid lockdown had on people’s mental health.

Last month, Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, decided to exclude the issue of mental health impact from the hearings on healthcare systems planned for later this year.

The inquiry’s third module, which starts in September, will look at mental health services for children and young people, and the wellbeing of people working in the NHS, but will not look at the mental health impact on the general public.

Dr Sarah Hughes, Mind’s CEO, said: “The millions of people who suffered and who continue to suffer the mental health impacts of the pandemic will not have their voices heard.

“We’ve come so far in recent years to put mental health on an equal footing with physical health, but that is not reflected in the Inquiry’s approach. Today’s decision means key questions will go unanswered, questions like: Why was there no public mental health plan? Why were the psychiatric hospitals emptied at the same time as community care was shut down? There are many more questions and stories to be told.

“The scale of mental health problems during and after Covid-19 is profound. The numbers of people seeking but not getting the help they need sadly confirms what we all feared, a crisis that hasn’t eased in 2024. The reality of what happened must not be ignored and lessons must be learned. If we really believe mental and physical health should be considered equally then we must see a reversal of this decision. There is still time for the Inquiry to do the right thing.”

One third say their mental health has worsened

Several studies have shown that lockdown damaged people’s mental health. One study by Mind found that about a third of adults and young people said their mental health had become much worse since March 2020. The charity also found that one in five adults did not seek support because they did not believe their problem was serious enough.

Mind had already argued at a preliminary hearing earlier this month that Lady Hallett should consider the wider impact on adult mental health and support services during hearings in autumn. Because the subject is not going to be included in the hearings this year, it may not be examined properly until later next year. The modules scheduled for the first half of 2025 focus on vaccines, procurement and Test and Trace.

Lady Hallett said in a ruling that “it is simply not possible or necessary to examine all areas of non Covid-19 care in detail.” She added that it was not possible both to stick to the timetable and broaden out the third module.

“I note that the inquiry’s terms of reference include the ‘impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the population’,” she said. “This connotes a wider remit than access to and the impact on services for adult mental health. Other modules will assist in exploring this.”

She said there were other ways the inquiry can gather evidence. These included independent research it had commissioned and its listening exercise, Every Story Matters: “I intend to utilise a combination of approaches to address this aspect of the inquiry’s terms of reference.”

The mental health of children in particular was affected by the pandemic, with official figures showing that the number of under-16s with a recorded disability has risen by more than a third in two years since the pandemic ended.