The Guardian reported that members of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK want stronger adult social care safeguards after a UK Covid-19 Inquiry report set out failures exposed during the pandemic.
The inquiry found that adult social care entered the crisis with staff shortages, financial strain and inadequate preparation. More than 43,000 deaths involving COVID-19 were recorded in UK care homes from March 2020 through July 2022. That figure covers care home deaths overall; it does not measure deaths caused by hospital transfers. The report examines adult social care across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Recommendations include improving pandemic planning, providing financial support to care workers required to isolate and giving clearer guidance on visits. The report also addresses testing and protective equipment.
An earlier finding examined hospital transfers intended to free beds. Initial transfer guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland lacked isolation advice, while Scotland acted earlier, as described in our earlier report on the inquiry’s transfer guidance finding. The pressure to free hospital beds put care home residents and workers at greater exposure risk.
Jean Adamson, whose father died after contracting COVID-19 in a care home, said the report failed to hold individuals accountable for pandemic decisions, The Guardian reported. Adamson also pointed to Gloria’s Law, a campaign seeking a legal right to a care supporter in health and care settings during future visiting restrictions. Nicola Brook, a lawyer representing bereaved families, called the report a “superficial damp squib,” the newspaper reported.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a written statement to Parliament on Oct. 20 that the government would consider the findings as it develops an adult social care pandemic action plan. The Welsh Government said a response to the recommendations is due within six months of publication.
