Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper has told MPs that social care has been "undervalued and under-recognised" for too long, after the UK Covid-19 Inquiry found that care homes were treated as an afterthought during the pandemic and received too little protection when they needed it most.
The inquiry's sixth report, on the adult social care sector, was published on Tuesday. Its chair, Baroness Hallett, concluded that government failures created conditions in which the virus could spread "like wildfire" among residents and staff.
More than 43,000 people died with Covid-19 in UK care homes between March 2020 and July 2022.
Yvette Cooper: 'A full response'
Speaking in the Commons, Yvette Cooper said she agreed with Baroness Hallett that the sector had been undervalued for too long, and that the report found social care was "insufficiently prepared for a pandemic" and "too often treated as an afterthought" compared with the NHS.
"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," she said.
"We will provide a full response to the report's recommendations in due course."
Andy Burnham: 'Learning the lessons'
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government was committed to learning the lessons of the report, recognising the "pain and suffering caused by the pandemic" and its lasting impact on people who received and provided care.
"We will use these findings to continue development of our Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan," he said, adding that his national care service would be "person-centred, highly integrated with health services and preventative in its character".
'Protective ring' claim rejected
Baroness Hallett rejected the claim made by the former Conservative government that a "protective ring" had been thrown around care homes from the start of the pandemic, saying it was unfounded and that "quite the opposite was true".
She found it was a significant omission that care homes were not advised to isolate patients discharged from hospital, at a time when around 25,000 patients were moved from hospitals into care homes in England before routine testing began in mid-April 2020.
The report describes shortages of personal protective equipment as "wholly unacceptable", with care workers resorting to festival ponchos, painters' overalls and bin bags. It also found that discussions on do-not-resuscitate orders were too often rushed or non-existent, and that visiting bans caused residents "immense emotional harm".
Eight recommendations
The inquiry makes eight recommendations, including clearer pandemic planning, safe isolation arrangements in care homes, financial support so care staff can self-isolate, published guidance on visiting, continued inspection during an outbreak, better data on deaths, mandatory end-of-life care training and a voluntary register for the social care workforce in England.
"The action taken by the UK government and devolved administrations to try and protect workers and users of adult social care came too late," Baroness Hallett said. "My recommendations must be acted upon now before the next pandemic strikes."
GMB national officer Natalie Grayson said care workers had been "left vulnerable and terribly exposed", adding: "We look forward to working with the government to enact the recommendations that have been made."
