Vulnerable care home residents were treated as an 'afterthought' and sacrificed to 'protect the NHS', the Covid-19 inquiry has found.
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inquiry → treat → NHS
More than 43,000 residents died after hospitals discharged infected patients into care homes without adequate protections, allowing the virus to 'spread like wildfire'.
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virus → die → wildfire
Claims by the then health secretary Matt Hancock that ministers had thrown a 'protective ring' around care homes 'right from the start' were untrue, inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett said.
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Hallett → throw → start
Instead homes were unable to properly isolate new arrivals, there were not enough tests to check if they were infected and care workers lacked PPE, meaning they were forced to wear bin bags or waterproof ponchos from music festivals.
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they → isolate → festivals
In the end, action to protect carers and residents came 'too late' with 'devastating consequences'.
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action → protect → consequences
Around 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals into care homes between 17 March and 15 April, 2020, in a bid to free-up hospital beds.
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patients → discharge → beds
But as the virus spread rapidly, care home residents were left feeling 'isolated, abandoned and alone' as visiting restrictions cut them off from loved ones - in some cases for months.
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restrictions → spread → months
People were not allowed to be with dying friends or relatives in their final moments, leaving bereaved people 'grief-stricken'.
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People → allow → people
Former health secretary Matt Hancock wrongly claimed ministers had thrown a 'protective ring' around care homes 'right from the start'
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ministers → claim → start
Baroness Hallett said visiting restrictions caused 'enormous harm' and resulted in 'significant decline' in some people, particularly those with dementia.
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restrictions → say → dementia
She welcomed the decision to partially relax visiting restrictions in the summer of 2020 but said the benefits should have been recognised sooner.
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benefits → welcome → 2020
She concludes: 'Many remain wracked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry'.
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they → conclude → that
The inquiry found the Government knew before the pandemic of the 'extreme vulnerability' of care home residents to respiratory viruses but they received 'insufficient protection at the time they most needed it'.
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they → find → it
Failures stemmed from the absence of proper pre-pandemic planning.
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Failures → stem → planning
Exercise Cygnus, a pandemic preparedness exercise conducted in October 2016, said more work was needed to ensure there would be enough surge capacity in care homes in the event of a pandemic but this had not been completed by the time the outbreak hit.
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outbreak → conduct → time
The report notes that had this been done it may have 'helped ensure the safe isolation of all people admitted to care homes'.
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it → note → homes
Baroness Hallett said: 'The adult social care sector as a whole appeared to be something of an afterthought, where the mantra of "protecting the NHS" sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care.
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mantra → say → care
Baroness Hallett said visiting restrictions caused 'enormous harm' and resulted in 'significant decline' in some people, particularly those with dementia
'
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restrictions → say → dementia
The failures set out in this Report created environments in care settings in which the virus could spread like wildfire.'
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virus → set → wildfire
She adds: 'Preventing visits caused incalculable harm to residents and their loved ones and often resulted in a significant decline in the health and wellbeing of residents, especially those with complex cognitive conditions such as dementia.
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Preventing → add → dementia
The severity of the restrictions and the length of time they were imposed had profound and enduring effects.'
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they → impose → effects
The inquiry examined concerns about the use of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions and found some were made inappropriately or without proper consultation, based on a person's age, health condition or learning disability.
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some → examine → age
This may sometimes have been because health and social care workers lacked the skills to have end of life conversations 'thoughtfully and compassionately', it says.
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it → lack → conversations
The report found care workers put their own lives at risk to help others, with some suffering 'burnout' and some leaving the profession early as a result of what they endured.
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they → find → what
The failure to give them adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) was 'wholly unacceptable' and the role of the care sector in society has been 'undervalued and under-recognised' for too long, it added.
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which was established in June 2022 and has cost over £200 million, is expected to publish its final report in the summer of 2027.
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which → give → 2027
Today's report into the care sector is the sixth of ten modules and has eight key recommendations to add to the 55 issued in the previous modules.
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report → have → modules
They include better planning for the safe isolation of care home residents, financial support for staff so they can afford to isolate if infected, new guidelines on visiting restrictions and mandatory end-of-life training for health and social care workers.
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they → include → workers
Baroness Hallett said: 'The profound isolation and sense of abandonment felt by residents as a result of the visiting restrictions resulted in immense emotional harm.
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isolation → say → harm
'Most distressingly, some people were not permitted to be with their dying loved ones.
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people → permit → ones
Many remain wracked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry.
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they → remain → that
During the pandemic, the action taken by the UK government and devolved administrations to try and protect workers and users of adult social care came too late.
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action → take → care
It underlines why my recommendations in this report must be acted upon now before the next pandemic strikes.'
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pandemic → underline → report
Inquiry hearings last year heard a civil servant describe the death toll as a 'generational slaughter within care homes'.
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servant → hear → homes
At a Downing Street press conference on 15 May, 2020, Mr Hancock – who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting to breaking social distancing guidance by having an affair with a colleague – said: 'Right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.'
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we → resign → homes
Bereaved families have previously called the phrase a 'sickening lie' and a 'joke'.
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families → call → phrase
The inquiry report stated: 'Rhetoric such as the statement of Matt Hancock… that the UK government had tried to throw "a protective ring" around care homes "right from the start" does not accurately reflect the lack of action taken to protect care homes across the UK in March and the first half of April 2020.
'
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government → state → April
The UK government and devolved administrations knew, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, of the extreme vulnerability of care home residents to respiratory viruses.
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government → know → viruses
'Despite this, care homes received insufficient protection at the time they most needed it.'
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they → receive → it
The Aporia
