Hancock's ‘insulting' testimony at Covid inquiry criticised by families
Mr Hancock said the likelihood of things getting worse if they'd stayed in hospital was 'very high'. Lawyers representing victims' families called his testimony 'an insult to the memory of each and every person who died'.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock gives evidence to Covid Inquiry
Covid Inquiry: Matt Hancock defends decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes
Covid inquiry: Matt Hancock denies lying during pandemic
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The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
What has the Covid-19 inquiry discovered about care homes in the pandemic?
Over the past four weeks, the Covid-19 inquiry has examined how the care sector was affected by a lack of testing and protective equipment and by the decisions that led to a surge of infections. Among the core participants were bereaved groups who said 'their loved ones who died cannot raise their voices so they seek truth and accountability on their behalf'. The former health and social care secretary's evidence was the most highly anticipated of this stage and ultimately disappointing for bereaved groups who said it was 'full of excuses and completely devoid of accountability'. Hancock said sending untested hospital patients into care homes to free up bed space was the 'least worst decision that could have been taken at the time'. He insisted that 'he still can't find a better option' and said it was in line with the guidance from medical experts at the time. The policy was blamed for causing outbreaks of Covid in care homes, with one civil servant saying the 46,000 deaths in the sector were a 'generational slaughter'. Hancock placed the blame firmly on Public Health England, saying its recommendations had not kept up with the reality of the unfolding situation. 'I got so frustrated with PHE I abolished them,' he said. 'There wasn't enough testing, there wasn't enough PPE. The public health authorities had the wrong attitude and the wrong doctrine. All of these things needed fixing and one by one we did everything we could to fix them.' Helen Whately, the care minister at the time, said hospital patients being discharged into care homes 'shouldn't have happened' and care homes should not have been expected to 'serve the NHS in this'. The inquiry heard that many care homes experienced 'clinical abandonment' during the pandemic. In some of the most distressing evidence heard by the inquiry, a care home owner and manager from Wrexham described the unfolding chaos and how staff struggled to provide care without adequate PPE and testing. Helen Louise Hough claimed she was told that her residents 'would not be considered for ventilation' if they became seriously ill with Covid and she could not get her local GP to attend in person to provide care. In one particularly harrowing incident, she said the home's first resident to die with Covid was left gasping for breath and begging for help in her final hours after Hough had been denied a prescription for oxygen. Her husband, Vernon, witnessed the resident's distress and later took his own life as the toll of the pandemic wore on. Many staff members worked long hours and stayed in an attic and in a caravan on site to reduce the risk of bringing the disease into the home. But with testing unavailable in the early weeks there was no way of telling who had Covid. Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said 'being in a care home turned out to be almost the worst place you could be during a pandemic'. Members of bereaved groups spoke powerfully about the impact of being unable to visit their relatives for months at a time, in many cases missing out on seeing them in the last weeks of their lives. Jane Weir-Wierzbowska, of Covid-19 Bereaved families for Justice, said her mother, who had dementia, deteriorated rapidly when her visits stopped. She could only look on from outside her room – talking through a mobile phone wrapped in a bin bag and placed on her mother's shoulder – as she neared the end of her life. 'I just felt like I'd let her down so badly and that guilt is with me always,' she said. The inquiry heard that dementia patients suffered the most from the ban on visits and there was a disproportionate amount of excess deaths in this group. People with dementia accounted for a quarter of all Covid-related deaths in England and Wales. Residents also described the distress caused by long periods stuck in isolation to try to stop the spread of Covid – one woman said she was placed in solitary for 65 days and felt like 'a caged animal'. Joanna Killian, the chief executive of the Local Government Association, said the trauma of separation was 'inhumane and can't happen again'. Laws such as the Care Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010 were eased during the pandemic to help the care system manage the pressure of the pandemic. But Helen Wildbore, the director of Care Rights UK, said this meant that 'people's rights became negotiable and sidelined' and individual needs were neglected. She said the pausing of routine inspections removed vital impartial oversight of care, and enforced supervision during visits meant it was harder for people to report abuse or neglect. Disability rights groups said 'no government should have legislated to allow local authorities to cease meeting pre-existing eligible needs' and that disabled people felt their lives were less valued.
BBC News
23-07-2025
- BBC News
Covid Inquiry: 'Lessons can be learned' from care home lockdowns
Locking down care homes to protect residents from Covid was "one of the most difficult decisions" that had to be made throughout the pandemic, Northern Ireland's former commissioner for older people has told the UK Covid Lynch said his office heard distressing stories from families about loved ones whose conditions deteriorated due to not receiving family said he hoped lessons can be learned and that concrete changes can be made to how care homes will cope in the case of a future inquiry, sitting in London, is examining the impact of the pandemic on social care including people who lived in care homes and those receiving domiciliary care at home. Visitor ban consequences 'more serious than we initially expected' "I was aware of the impact that this was going to have on people, but at that stage it seemed like people's right to protect their lives trumped everything else," Mr Lynch told the inquiry that he had supported the visiting policy following advice from experts that fewer people going in and out of care homes from the community would reduce the risk for people in those care home he said that after a period of time he realised that the negative side of that policy was "very serious and probably more serious than we initially expected"."It was clear to me that for many older people that that system meant that they didn't see family members face to face for the last weeks or months of their lives."It was a very awful position to be in and I think in the future we need to weigh up the risk associated with contracting the virus and putting in place measures that allows continued social contact and direct human contact with family members," he added. Mr Lynch said that in those early stages of the pandemic care homes were in the firing line and it felt greater attention was being given to hospitals instead of care homes, when the care homes were clearly "more vulnerable". In March 2020, 23% of the population in Northern Ireland were older people, which is defined as those aged 60 years and former commissioner said from the outset of the pandemic he reminded officials that everyone needed to stop referring to care homes as buildings but instead as people's inquiry is examining how Northern Ireland dealt with personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and tracing the infection, discharge policy and Lynch said that in many of these areas "Northern Ireland played catch up" and testing could have been introduced at an earlier stage, but instead there was a feeling of "push back."He said, within the first couple of months, they knew the "devastating impact" the pandemic was having on care told the inquiry that experts were telling him that testing and tracing the virus was "critical" for care homes to get a handle on it, but that he felt testing was "far too slow in coming". Testing 'could have been done weeks earlier' When a testing programme was introduced by the Department of Health which became regular, Mr Lynch said he had " deep frustration" at the speed of that and what he saw was "a lack of urgency about how important that was in response to the pandemic".Mr Lynch claimed testing could have been introduced and ramped up earlier and that while resources may have been one of the issues, he did not believe it was entirely about said in the early stages there did not seem to be "a huge appetite" for testing, particularly in care home settings and that the roll out of testing could have been done weeks Lynch told the inquiry that the weaknesses of the social care sector for older people were "horribly exposed at the outset of the pandemic".He said that the pandemic had a devastating impact on older people and those with underlying health care problems who were at most risk."The nature of the virus was difficult to control once it got into those settings, " Mr Lynch asked about draft guidance that was issued by the DOH on 16 March 2020, Mr Lynch said the guidance was limited and there was little opportunity for others to influence it.
Daily Record
22-07-2025
- Daily Record
Jason Leitch criticised over TikTok advert plugging private healthcare firm
EXCLUSIVE: Leitch, the former national clinical director, praised a "one of a kind" private hospital in Glasgow. Professor Jason Leitch has been criticised after he appeared in an online advert promoting a private healthcare firm at a time Scotland's NHS continues to struggle. In a video shared on TikTok and Instagram, the country's former national clinical director praised a "one of a kind" private hospital recently opened in central Glasgow by Elanic Medical. Leitch, who helped lead Scotland's response to the covid pandemic, is a non-executive director with a focus on clinical governance at the healthcare firm. Elanic has an established cosmetic surgery clinic in Glasgow but has now built a 15,000 sq ft hospital in Bath Street to provide more routine operations. Leitch became a household name when he regularly stood alongside Nicola Sturgeon as the then first minister delivered her daily covid briefings in 2020 and 2021. He announced he was stepping down as national clinical director in March 2024, shortly after he gave evidence at the UK Covid the social media ad, Leitch said: "I'm on the board here at Elanic. I'm responsible, along with a host of other people, for the safety and governance of the care and services here. It's fantastic to be back at the Elanic hospital and see it fully functioning, with loads of specialties now, seeing patients on a daily basis. "Orthopaedics, plastic surgery, urology, gynaecology, bariatric surgery - all getting care and service right in the centre of Glasgow with real state of the art operating theatres." Leitch continued: "It's fantastic to see Elanic at the forefront of modern care. It's now becoming routine for patients to go home on the same day and that's no different here, particularly for orthopaedics. "It's been terrific to see this project from the plans on a piece of paper to what is now a state of the art facility in central Glasgow. I think it's probably one of a kind, with operating theatres, outpatient clinics, and bedrooms with en suite facilities. It's fantastic to see it grow from the architects' drawings right up to what is now a fully functioning hospital." Alba MSP Ash Regan said some Scots would be left feeling "scunnered" after seeing a former senior NHS figure promoting a private healthcare firm. She told the Record: "Jason Leitch built his public profile during the pandemic as Scotland's national clinical director as a trusted voice at the heart of our NHS. "Seeing him fronting TikTok adverts for a private healthcare company, where he sits on the board, sends a deeply mixed message about the Government's priorities and commitment to our NHS. "The public is rightly scunnered. Time and again, we see the revolving door for those paid by the public purse to lead and represent public services going on to use that platform to cash in on private interests." Leitch faced criticism during the UK Covid Inquiry last year over the mass deletion of his WhatsApp messages. One message which was retrieved showed him saying: "WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual." When asked about the comments, he said: "It's an exaggeration. I didn't daily delete my WhatsApp." A spokeswoman for Elanic Medical said: "We believe that only by working together can the private sector effectively support the NHS in reducing waiting times and improving patient outcomes. "As of March 2025, over 559,000 patients in Scotland were still waiting for outpatient appointments, with more than 63,000 waiting over a year, and over 5,200 waiting more than two years—the highest number ever recorded. These figures highlight the urgent need for collaborative solutions to ease the burden on the NHS and ensure timely access to care." The Record asked the Scottish Government for comment.
