One of today’s key findings is that the UK government’s claim of a “protective ring” around care homes was “unfounded”, with bereaved families speaking of “cruel lies”.
But where did that assertion originate?
Then-health secretary Matt Hancock first mentioned the concept at a news conference on the pandemic response on 15 May 2020:
“Right from the start, it’s been clear that this horrible virus affects older people
most. So right from the start, we’ve tried to throw a protective ring around our
care homes.”
What were the ‘protective ring’ measures?
At the time, Hancock described the measures put in place to protect care homes as follows:
Making sure “care homes have the resources they need
to control the spread of infection”, with an extra £600m made available for English care homes;Establishing extra infection control procedures and providing training, advice and support, including on PPE usage;Prioritising testing in care homes, with any resident
returning to a care home from hospital, all residents with symptoms, and all care staff and their household getting tested.
What did Hancock say about his comments in hindsight?
Hancock told the inquiry, however, that the ring metaphor was “clearly a piece of rhetoric”.
But he stressed: “We really did do our best to take all of the actions
we could to protect those in care homes from the virus in incredibly difficult
circumstances.”
What really happened?
The inquiry states: “His choice of words did not reflect what was happening in care homes in the first weeks and months of the pandemic.”
Testing of all discharged people was only rolled out in mid-April and staff training only started in May, with 12,409 COVID-linked deaths being reported in English care homes between 10 April and 8 May.
Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic, told the inquiry a “ring is a circle without a break in it” but that the government failed to close off the routes of ingress.
Hancock said it’s “quite clear from the evidence that Professor Van-Tam is right”.