Inquiry Finds Government Failings Allowed Covid to Spread Widely in Care Homes

Government failures in care settings created an environment that allowed COVID-19 to spread rapidly, an official inquiry has found. The sixth report from the COVID inquiry stated that the care sector was treated as an "afterthought" in the early stages of the pandemic, and that no "protective ring" was established around homes as ministers had claimed.

More than 43,000 deaths involving COVID-19 were recorded in care homes in the UK between March 2020 and July 2022. The 287-page report highlighted shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for caregivers and criticized the practice of discharging hospital patients into care homes.

The inquiry also noted that restrictions on visits caused significant harm to residents and their loved ones, though it attributed the implementation of these limits to the care homes themselves. At the onset of the pandemic, approximately 1.5 million adults were residing in care homes or receiving in-home support.

Baroness Hallett, the chair of the inquiry, stated that a combination of factors, including a lack of testing, inadequate PPE, insufficient pre-pandemic planning, and early policy decisions, "created an environment in which the virus could spread like wildfire." She added, "At the critical early stages of the pandemic, not enough was done to protect those living and working in care homes. The overriding focus of the UK government and devolved administrations was on protecting hospitals."

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, described the report as "devastating," adding that individuals using social care, along with their staff and unpaid carers, were left "totally exposed" when COVID-19 began to spread. She suggested that an overhaul of social care, as previously proposed by Andy Burnham, could have mitigated some of the pandemic's impact on the sector.

Natalie Grayson of the GMB union stated that care workers were left "vulnerable and terribly exposed" during the pandemic, describing some care homes as having "turned into morgues." She emphasized that such a situation must not recur.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper acknowledged that the government would issue a "full response" to the report's recommendations "in due course." Speaking in the House of Commons, Cooper agreed that social care had been "undervalued and under-recognised" for an extended period. She expressed her condolences to all who lost loved ones during the pandemic, particularly those who experienced the distress of visiting restrictions that prevented them from being with family members in their final moments.