Government failures caused Covid-19 to spread rapidly through care homes and left elderly residents isolated, according to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry report published on Tuesday. Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett found that former health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim of a protective ring was unfounded.
The adult social care sector functioned largely as an afterthought while authorities prioritized protecting hospital capacity during the pandemic, the inquiry concluded. Between March 2020 and July 2022, the report led by Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, revealed that upwards of 43,000 individuals lost their lives to Covid-19 inside UK care homes.
Inquiry Rejects Claim of Protective Ring Around Care Homes
At a Downing Street press conference on May 15, 2020, then-health secretary Matt Hancock claimed that authorities had tried to throw a protective ring around care homes right from the start. The inquiry rejected that assertion entirely, noting that the opposite was true during the critical weeks of March and early April 2020.
Hancock gave evidence acknowledging he took responsibility for discharging about 25,000 hospital patients into care homes to free up NHS bed space before mandatory testing was introduced on April 15, 2020. The policy was later ruled unlawful by the high court, and Hancock told the inquiry it was the least worst decision to a terrible problem.
At the critical early stages of the pandemic, not enough was done to protect those living and working in care homes. The claim that a so-called “protective ring” had been thrown around care homes – ‘right from the start’ – was unfounded. Quite the opposite was true.
Baroness Heather Hallett, UK Covid-19 Inquiry Chairwoman
Characterizing the report as devastating, Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams noted that the onset of Covid left social care recipients alongside their professional and unpaid caregivers in a state of total vulnerability. According to Natalie Grayson of the GMB union, the pandemic left care staff perilously unprotected while transforming care homes into morgues, a situation she stressed must never be repeated. Nadra Ahmed, co-chair of the National Care Association representing care providers in England, described the findings as really upsetting and added that the social care workforce has never fully recovered from the pandemic.
Ministers' claims of there being a "protective ring" around care homes at the start of Covid were unfounded, according to the Covid inquiry⁰Baroness Hallett’s latest report – on the UK's adult social care sector – says care homes seemed "something of an afterthought", and… pic.twitter.com/C8QGvcQdjU
Severe Shortages of Personal Protective Equipment
Care staff faced hazardous conditions without central support, often lacking basic safety gear. The inquiry noted that staff resorted to using festival waterproof ponchos, painters’ overalls, and gloves bought from DIY shops, alongside makeshift equipment crafted from fabric, bin bags, and bed linen.
In Scotland, a GMB Scotland survey conducted on March 31, 2020, found that 76% of its members had not been provided with appropriate personal protective equipment, despite government assurances that free gear would be accessible as a last resort. Heather Hallett noted the emotional toll on staff, stating that the scale of death and suffering witnessed by social care staff was unlike anything they had seen.
Emotional Toll of Visiting Restrictions
Visiting bans implemented across residential facilities inflicted profound emotional harm on residents and their families. Hallett noted that many residents experienced deep isolation and a sense of abandonment, with some facilities effectively becoming prisons.
The strict visitor policies triggered severe emotional distress for residents due to the profound isolation and acute feeling of abandonment they endured, as highlighted by Baroness Heather Hallett.
The restrictions meant many people were barred from being with dying relatives, leaving families dealing with lingering grief and undeserved guilt. The inquiry also scrutinized the application of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation protocols, uncovering instances where DNACPR orders were documented on patient files without the knowledge of the individuals or their relatives.
LGA Chair Responds to Expensive Public Inquiry Report
Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Chair of the Local Government Association, responded to the module six report by stating that the pandemic was an extraordinarily difficult time for people drawing on care and support, their families, and those who care for them, and that councils and their partners worked tirelessly to support vulnerable residents.
The report represents the sixth of ten modules from the inquiry, which is the most expensive public inquiry in the country’s history, costing more than £200 million.