UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock said sending patients to care homes was necessary, despite claims it worsened COVID spread.
As reported by The Guardian, Matt Hancock told the Covid-19 inquiry that sending untested hospital patients to care homes was the “least worst option” available.
What did Matt Hancock say about moving patients to care homes?
At the UK Covid-19 inquiry, Matt Hancock defended sending hospital patients to care homes during the pandemic’s early phase, a move later ruled illegal.
He said,
“Nobody has yet provided me with an alternative that was available at the time that would have saved more lives. I still can’t see a decision that would have been less bad. None of the options were good. It was the least worst decision that could have been taken at the time. While I wish there had been a better option, I still can’t find one.”
Mr Hancock stated,
“The likelihood of things being worse if people had stayed in hospital was very high.”
The former health secretary claimed the hospital discharge decision was a government directive, but was led by NHS chief Simon Stevens. He admitted he didn’t make the move himself but accepted responsibility.
Mr Hancock said isolation wasn’t part of the clinical guidance during the early pandemic, but agreed it should have been in hindsight.
When questioned about the care staff shortage, he responded, “We knew that people would do what they needed to do.”
He faced sharp criticism for claiming a “protective ring” surrounded care homes — a statement he later admitted during the inquiry was inaccurate.
What did Nicola Brook say about Hancock’s care home defence?
Nicola Brook, speaking for 7,000 families who lost loved ones to Covid, condemned Mr Hancock’s comments as “an insult to those who died.”
She said,
“He knew at the time that many care homes did not have the ability to isolate the people who would be discharged from the hospital and that Covid was airborne. It’s frankly ridiculous and insulting that he says they tried to throw a protective ring around care homes when his department’s policies caused Covid to spread like wildfire amongst society’s most vulnerable loved ones.”
Ms Brook added,
“Mr Hancock claims the decision to discharge people into care homes was driven by Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS, yet the inquiry is not calling him. We call for this decision to be urgently reviewed.”
How did early discharges fuel a COVID-19 crisis in care homes?
A senior civil servant described the deaths in care homes during Covid as a “generational slaughter”, according to written evidence submitted to the inquiry this week.
From March 2020 to January 2022, almost 46,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales, most during the early phase of the pandemic.
Critics say discharging patients into care homes without isolation measures fueled the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable residents.
The High Court ruled in 2022 that it was “irrational” not to isolate untested hospital patients during the early weeks of the pandemic.
A care home owner told the inquiry on Tuesday that she refused to admit untested hospital patients, but was threatened with being reported for bed blocking.
COVID-19 death statistics in the UK
- 2020: Approximately 77,000 deaths
- 2021: Around 53,356 deaths (Feb 1, 2021–Jan 31, 2022)
- 2022: About 45,788 deaths (April 1, 2021–March 31, 2022)