Care homes treated as afterthought

Care home residents were treated as something of an afterthought as government failures during the pandemic allowed Covid-19 to spread like wildfire, a damning inquiry report has found.

“something of an afterthought”

Protecting the NHS came at care's expense

Baroness Heather Hallett, the retired Court of Appeal judge who chairs the Covid-19 inquiry, highlighted how the government's protecting the NHS mantra came at the expense of care patients and staff.

Over 43,000 deaths in care homes

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard there were more than forty three thousand deaths involving the virus in care homes across the UK between March two thousand twenty and July two thousand twenty two.

April two thousand twenty deaths brought focus too late

The high number of deaths in care homes in April two thousand twenty brought the situation into sharp focus, but Baroness Hallett said the shift in focus came too late.

“came too late”

Protective measures should have started immediately

Given that people receiving care were particularly vulnerable to respiratory disease, protective measures should have been put in place at the start of a pandemic, not once it had already taken hold.

Hancock's protective ring claim was unfounded

The inquiry found that former health secretary Matt Hancock's claim he had tried to throw a protective ring around care homes was unfounded, with Lady Hallett adding quite the opposite was true.

“Quite the opposite was true”

Hancock made the claim on May fifteen two thousand twenty

At a Downing Street press conference on May fifteen two thousand twenty, Mr Hancock said right from the start we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.

“Right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes”

PPE shortages forced improvisation

Shortages of personal protective equipment for care workers led to some resorting to using festival waterproof ponchos, painters' overalls, and gloves bought online as well as homemade PPE from fabric and bin bags.

Hospital discharges without virus status

Vulnerable care home residents were left with insufficient protection as patients were discharged from hospitals without knowing if they had the virus, the inquiry found.

Visiting bans caused incalculable harm

Preventing visits to care homes caused incalculable harm to residents and their loved ones and often resulted in a significant decline in the health and wellbeing of residents.

“incalculable harm”

Bereaved families call Hancock's claim a cruel lie

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said that Mr Hancock's claim was a cruel lie. Jean Adamson said the report shows the government knew the care sector was extremely vulnerable yet did nothing.

“a cruel lie”

Government pledges action plan for future pandemics

Prime minister Andy Burnham said the government is committed to learning the lessons from the report and pledged to use the findings to develop an action plan in case of a future pandemic.