Bereaved families say they are 'very angry' after the Covid inquiry finds no 'protective ring' was put around care homes
Baroness Heather Hallett's report, published today, found Covid was able to "spread like wildfire" in care homes, where more than 43,000 deaths involving the virus were recorded.Matt Hancock, whose 'protective ring' claim around care homes was ruled "unfounded" by the inquiry, which found care was "something of an afterthought" during the pandemic.
Jane Roche, from Castle Vale in Birmingham, lost her father Vincent Pettitt and her sister Jocelyn within five days in April 2020. Carers later told her that her father, who had dementia, kept asking: 'Where's my Jane?' She accuses former health secretary Matt Hancock of having 'fed them to the wolves'. More than 43,000 deaths involving Covid were recorded in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022.
Inquiry chair Heather Hallett said ministers let the virus 'spread like wildfire' in care homes.
Martina Ferguson stood at her mother Ursula Derry's care home window for nine months.
Care homes saw 47 per cent of Scottish Covid deaths, compared with England's 30 per cent.
