Candour needed as Covid inquiry shifts its focus to care homes

This week the inquiry moves onto examining what went wrong in the care sector. The first week of what is to be a five-week module will also hear from former health secretary Matt Hancock.

It is clear that what the then government said and what transpired were at odds. Mr Hancock, who has already given evidence multiple times to the inquiry, has major questions to answer about his handling of care homes during the crisis.

At a Downing Street press conference on May 15 2020, Mr Hancock said: “Right from the start, we’ve tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.”

That was clearly not the case. Bereaved families have previously called this phrase a “sickening lie” and a “joke”. Hospital patients were discharged into care homes in a bid to free up beds but there was no policy in place requiring patients to be tested before admission, or for asymptomatic patients to isolate, until mid-April.

Everyone appearing before the inquiry, including the former Health Secretary, need to remember the pain and suffering that mismanagement of the pandemic has inflicted on many families. Lessons also need to be learned so that mistakes are not repeated and sectors such as care are better equipped to deal with a public health crisis.