\n<\/p>\n
Over the past four weeks, the Covid-19 inquiry has examined how the care sector was affected by a lack of testing and protective equipment and by the decisions that led to a surge of infections.<\/p>\n
Among the core participants were bereaved groups who said \u201ctheir loved ones who died cannot raise their voices so they seek truth and accountability on their behalf\u201d.<\/p>\n
The former health and social care secretary\u2019s evidence was the most highly anticipated of this stage, and was ultimately disappointing for bereaved groups who said it was \u201cfull of excuses and completely devoid of accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hancock said sending untested hospital patients into care homes to free up bed space was the \u201cleast worst decision that could have been taken at the time\u201d. He insisted that \u201che still can\u2019t find a better option\u201d and said it was in line with the guidance from medical experts at the time.<\/p>\n
The policy was blamed for causing outbreaks of Covid in care homes, with one civil servant saying the 46,000 deaths in the sector were a \u201cgenerational slaughter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hancock placed the blame firmly on Public Health England, saying its recommendations had not kept up with the reality of the unfolding situation. \u201cI got so frustrated with PHE I abolished them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t enough testing, there wasn\u2019t enough PPE. The public health authorities had the wrong attitude and the wrong doctrine. All of these things needed fixing and one by one we did everything we could to fix them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen Whately, the care minister at the time, said hospital patients being discharged into care homes \u201cshouldn\u2019t have happened\u201d and care homes should not have been expected\u00a0to \u201cserve the NHS in this\u201d.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard that many care homes experienced \u201cclinical abandonment\u201d during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
In some of the most distressing evidence heard by the inquiry, a care home owner and manager from Wrexham described the unfolding chaos and how staff struggled to provide care without adequate PPE and testing.<\/p>\n
Helen Louise Hough claimed she was told that her residents \u201cwould not be considered for ventilation\u201d if they became seriously ill with Covid and she could not get her local GP to attend in person to provide care.<\/p>\n
In one particularly harrowing incident, she said the home\u2019s first resident to die with Covid was left gasping for breath and begging for help in her final hours after Hough had been denied a prescription for oxygen. Her husband, Vernon, witnessed the resident\u2019s distress and later took his own life as the toll of the pandemic wore on.<\/p>\n
Many staff members worked long hours and stayed in an attic and in a caravan on site to reduce the risk of bringing the disease into the home. But with testing unavailable in the early weeks there was no way of telling who had Covid.<\/p>\n
Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said: \u201cBeing in a care home turned out to be almost the worst place you could be during a pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of bereaved groups spoke powerfully about the impact of being unable to visit their relatives for months at a time, in many cases missing out on seeing them in the last weeks of their lives.<\/p>\n
Jane Weir-Wierzbowska, of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said her mother, who had dementia, deteriorated rapidly when her visits stopped. She could only look on from outside the room \u2013 talking through a mobile phone wrapped in a bin bag and placed on her mother\u2019s shoulder \u2013 as her mother neared the end of her life. \u201cI just felt like I\u2019d let her down so badly and that guilt is with me always,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard that dementia patients suffered the most from the ban on visits and there was a disproportionate amount of excess deaths in this group. People with dementia accounted for a quarter of all Covid-related deaths in England and Wales.<\/p>\n
Residents also described the distress caused by long periods stuck in isolation to try to stop the spread of Covid. One woman said she was placed in solitary for 65 days and felt like \u201ca caged animal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Joanna Killian, the chief executive of the Local Government Association, said the trauma of separation was \u201cinhumane and can\u2019t happen again\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laws such as the Care Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010 were eased during the pandemic to help the care system manage the pressure of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
But Helen Wildbore, the director of Care Rights UK, said this meant that \u201cpeople\u2019s rights became negotiable and sidelined\u201d and individual needs were neglected.<\/p>\n
She said the pausing of routine inspections removed vital impartial oversight of care, and enforced supervision during visits meant it was harder for people to report abuse or neglect.<\/p>\n
Disability rights groups said \u201cno government should have legislated to allow local authorities to cease meeting pre-existing eligible needs\u201d and that disabled people felt their lives were less valued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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