Grieving families accuse Matt Hancock of telling ‘cruel lie’

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1h ago

By SHAUN WOOLLER 23:02 20 Oct 2026, updated 23:03 20 Oct 2026

Vulnerable care home residents were treated as an ‘afterthought’ and sacrificed to ‘protect the NHS’, the Covid-19 inquiry has found.

More than 43,000 residents died after hospitals discharged infected patients into care homes without adequate protections, allowing the virus to ‘spread like wildfire’.

Claims by the then health secretary Matt Hancock that ministers had thrown a ‘protective ring’ around care homes ‘right from the start’ were unfounded, inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett said.

Instead homes were unable to properly isolate new arrivals, there were not enough tests to check if they were infected and care workers lacked personal protective equipment (PPE), meaning they were forced to wear bin bags or waterproof ponchos.

In the end, action to protect carers and residents came ‘too late’, with ‘devastating consequences’.

Around 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals into care homes between March 17 and April 15, 2020, in a bid to free up hospital beds.

But as the virus spread rapidly, care home residents were left feeling ‘isolated, abandoned and alone’ as visiting restrictions cut them off from loved ones – in some cases for months.

People were not allowed to be with dying friends or relatives in their final moments, leaving them ‘grief-stricken’.

The Daily Mail campaigned for care home residents to be allowed to reunite with their loved ones during the pandemic, describing it as ‘shameful’ that they were being deprived of visits by ‘cruel’ restrictions.

MPs praised the campaign in Parliament and the Government finally allowed visits in time for Christmas 2020, with testing and PPE used to maximise safety.

Baroness Hallett said visiting restrictions caused ‘enormous harm’ and resulted in ‘significant decline’ in some people, particularly those with dementia.

She welcomed the decision to partially relax these restrictions but said the benefits should have been recognised sooner.

She concluded: ‘Many [relatives] remain racked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry.’

The inquiry found the Government knew before the pandemic of the ‘extreme vulnerability’ of care home residents to respiratory viruses but they received ‘insufficient protection at the time they most needed it’.

Failures stemmed from the lack of proper pre-pandemic planning.

Exercise Cygnus, a pandemic preparedness initiative conducted in October 2016, said more work was needed to ensure there would be enough surge capacity in care homes in a pandemic – but this had not been completed by the time the outbreak hit.

The report notes that had this been done, it may have ‘helped ensure the safe isolation of all people admitted to care homes’.

Baroness Hallett said: ‘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.

‘The failures set out in this report created environments in care settings in which the virus could spread like wildfire.’

The inquiry examined concerns about ‘Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’ decisions.

It found some were made inappropriately or without proper consultation, based on a person’s age, health condition or learning disability.

The failure to give staff adequate PPE was ‘wholly unacceptable’ and the care sector’s role in society has been ‘undervalued and under-recognised’ for too long, it added.

Established in June 2022, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which has cost more than £200million, is expected to publish its final report in the summer of 2027.

The report into the care sector, the sixth of ten modules, has eight key recommendations.

They include better planning for the safe isolation of care home residents, financial support for staff so they can afford to isolate if infected, new guidelines on visiting restrictions and mandatory end-of-life training for health and social care workers.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of trade body Care England, said: ‘Pressure in hospitals must never again be relieved by transferring unmanaged risk into adult social care.

‘The inquiry’s recommendations are essential, but the real test now is implementation.’

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would respond fully to the report ‘in due course’.

She added: ‘My thoughts are with all those who lost loved ones in the pandemic, and especially those who endured the immense distress and harm of visiting restrictions in care homes, which meant they could not be with loved ones even as they died.

‘I also pay tribute to all those who work to protect the most vulnerable in very difficult circumstances, from care workers to family members.’

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