Government failures during the COVID-19 pandemic left care homes in the UK insufficiently protected, allowing the virus to spread rapidly among elderly and vulnerable people, the country’s public inquiry into the pandemic has found.
Heather Hallett, chair of the COVID-19 inquiry, said the failure to advise that patients discharged from hospitals into care homes should be isolated was a “significant omission” that contributed to the spread of the virus among residents and staff.
“The adult social care sector as a whole appeared to be something of an afterthought, where the mantra of ‘protecting the NHS’ sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care,” Hallett said.
“Care homes received insufficient protection at the time they most needed it. These failures created environments in care settings in which the virus could spread like wildfire.”
Hallett also highlighted the emotional toll of restrictions that prevented visits to care homes, saying they caused “immense emotional harm” to residents and left them experiencing “profound isolation and a sense of abandonment.”
“Most distressingly, some people were not permitted to be with their dying loved ones. Many remain racked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry,” she said.
More than 43,000 people died from COVID-19 in UK care homes between March 2020 and July 2022, underscoring the devastating impact of the pandemic on the country’s adult social care sector.
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