Covid inquiry finds care homes were 'afterthought' as 43,000 died

Summarised from 6 outlets · 8 reports · Updated 20 Oct, 12:15 · Archive

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has found that more than 43,000 people died in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022 because the sector was inadequately protected.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has published its sixth report, focusing on the adult social care sector and finding systematic failures that left care homes inadequately protected during the pandemic. Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett concluded that more than 43,000 people died with coronavirus in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022.

The report identifies a critical early failure: when the pandemic began in 2020, around 25,000 patients were rapidly discharged from hospitals into care homes to free up NHS beds. However, there was no policy requiring patients to be tested before admission or to isolate after arrival until mid-April 2020. This absence of protection allowed the virus to spread rapidly among residents and staff.

Baroness Hallett stated that the 'mantra at the time of protecting the NHS sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care', with the adult social care sector appearing to be 'something of an afterthought'. She described the government's failure to advise isolating discharged patients as a 'significant omission' that created environments where the virus could spread 'like wildfire'.

The inquiry's findings directly contradict former health secretary Matt Hancock's May 2020 claim that ministers had thrown a 'protective ring' around care homes 'right from the start'. Multiple outlets describe this claim as 'rhetoric' and note that the report refutes it. The report found that care homes lacked adequate testing, personal protective equipment and other safeguards needed to protect vulnerable residents.

Beyond infection control, the inquiry found profound harm from visiting restrictions imposed at the pandemic's outset. Baroness Hallett wrote that the 'profound isolation and sense of abandonment felt by residents resulted in immense emotional harm'. She noted that by September 2020, research indicated the risk posed by loneliness and isolation was 'likely an order of magnitude higher' than the risk from visitors transmitting infection. The report states that family members designated as 'essential carers' should have been recognised and permitted to visit much sooner.

Many residents were prevented from being with dying loved ones in their final moments. The inquiry found that bereaved family members 'remain wracked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry'. Baroness Hallett highlighted a 'significant decline in the health and wellbeing of residents, especially those with cognitive conditions like dementia'.

The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett and the most expensive public inquiry in British history, began in June 2023 and finished public hearings in March 2024. The report acknowledges that care home providers and policy-makers initially had limited choice in imposing restrictions when the pandemic began, as protection of life was paramount. However, it concludes that failures in planning and guidance for the adult social care sector resulted in 'devastating consequences'. The inquiry has made 55 recommendations so far and will publish ten modules in total covering preparedness, political decision-making, health and social care, vaccines, procurement, test and trace, children and young people, the economic response and wider societal impact.

How it is being reported

• Covid failings in care homes: What the inquiry saysFrom the shocking lack of PPE to restrictions on visitors - the key points from the sixth Covid inquiry report.BBC News · 20 Oct, 13:16
• Matt Hancock’s care home protective ring claim ‘unfounded’, Covid report findsThere were more than 43,000 recorded care home deaths involving Covid-19 between March 2020 and July 2022.Evening Standard · 20 Oct, 12:29
• Care home residents were sacrificed to 'protect the NHS' during Covid pandemic causing 43,000 deaths after failings saw virus 'spread like wildfire', damning inquiry findsMore than 43,000 residents died after hospitals discharged infected patients into care homes without adequate protections, allowing the virus to 'spread like wildfire'.Daily Mail · 20 Oct, 12:10
• Care sector was ‘afterthought’ and suffered devastating impact – Covid reportThere were more than 43,000 recorded care home deaths involving Covid-19 between March 2020 and July 2022.Evening Standard · 20 Oct, 12:00
• UK government failures led to Covid spreading ‘like wildfire’ in care homes, inquiry findsInquiry chair says failure to isolate people discharged from hospital into care was ‘significant oversight’ The care sector was “an afterthought” during the Covid-19 pandemic, and government failures caused the virus to spread “like wildfire” among vulnerable and elderly people, a public inquiry has found. Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, said it was a “significant omission” that the government did not advise isolating patients discharged from hospitals into care homes, causing the virus to spread rapidly among residents and staff. Continue reading...Guardian World · 20 Oct, 12:00
• Covid inquiry blasts care homes 'afterthought' despite Matt Hancock's 'protective ring' with 43,000 deadCovid-19 Inquiry says social care “an afterthought” despite claims by Matt Hancock - after untested residents were sent into care homes where 43,000 people diedThe Mirror · 20 Oct, 12:00
• Family members ‘should have been allowed into care homes earlier in Covid outbreak’Family visits over the pandemic often required a physical barrier (Picture: Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images) Loved ones with an ‘essential carer’ role should have been allowed to enter care homes much earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, the official Covid inquiry has found. Baroness Heather…Metro · 20 Oct, 12:00
• Covid inquiry report 'must show who was responsible for care home decisions that cost so many lives'A report into the handling of the Covid pandemic in care homes 'must establish who was responsible for the decisions that cost so many lives', Covid19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK has said.The Mirror · 20 Oct, 00:11

In this story: Baroness Heather Hallett · Matt Hancock · UK Covid-19 Inquiry · Covid19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK · United Kingdom

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem