Government slammed for ‘negligent approach’ to social care

MPs have said that the government made an ‘appalling error’ when 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals into care homes without ensuring all were first tested for coronavirus.

The Public Accounts Committee has said that the government’s ‘slow, inconsistent, and at times negligent approach’ to social care during the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the ‘tragic impact’ of  ‘years of inattention, funding cuts and delayed reforms’.

Resulting in the sector being seen and treated as a ‘poor relation’, MPs state that where the NHS was ‘just’ able to weather the ‘severe and immense’ challenges posed by the virus, ‘it has been a very different story for adult social care’.

Concerned about staff in health and social care, who are now expected to cope with future peaks and also deal with the enormous backlogs that have built up, the Public Accounts Committee is demanding the government produce a three-point plan by September, ahead of the second wave, covering health, the economy and procurement of medical supplies and equipment. The committee also expects an account to be provided in September of the spending under ‘policies designed to create additional capacity quickly’ which have resulted in ‘a lack of transparency about costs and value for money’.

Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said: “The failure to provide adequate PPE or testing to the millions of staff and volunteers who risked their lives to help us through the first peak of the crisis is a sad, low moment in our national response. Our care homes were effectively thrown to the wolves, and the virus has ravaged some of them.

“Vulnerable people surviving the first wave have been isolated for months, in the absence of a functional tracing and containment system. Yet there were bold and ambitious claims made by ministers about the roll out of test, track and trace that don’t match the reality. The deaths of people in care homes devastated many, many families. They and we don’t have time for promises and slogans, or exercises in blame. We weren’t prepared for the first wave. Putting all else aside, government must use the narrow window we have now to plan for a second wave. Lives depend upon getting our response right.”

Layla McCay, a director at the NHS Confederation, said: “This report makes difficult reading but at its heart is the need for social care reform. Politicians from all parties have ducked this for far too long – we need decisive action now to ensure social care services and staff have the support and resources they need.

“There is much in the report that the NHS will need to examine and learn from. But we think it is unfair to say NHS trusts systematically discharged patients who were known or suspected of having Covid-19 into care homes. This all happened at a fast-moving and complex moment, with patient care at the top of people’s minds. We will welcome a review but caution against scapegoating before we fully understand what happened, as it is not fair to the NHS staff who have worked so hard to deliver the best possible care in the most challenging period the system has ever faced.

“We also back the recommendations for the government to assess the capacity it needs for PPE and testing, also crucially how it will meet this, as this will be vital ahead of any second wave. And we share PAC’s concern about the frontline workers who have endured the strain and trauma of responding to Covid-19 for many months and believe there should be a review of the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS and social care workforce given the unprecedented pressure staff have been under.”