Covid: Discharging hospital patients to care homes 'unlawful'

Government policies on discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in England at the start of the Covid pandemic have been ruled unlawful by the High Court.

The ruling comes after two women took former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Public Health England to court.

Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris said it had caused a "shocking death toll".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson renewed his apologies for all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

Dr Gardner and Ms Harris partially succeeded in claims against Mr Hancock and Public Health England.

The women claimed key policies of discharging patients from hospitals into care homes were implemented with no testing and no suitable isolation arrangements in the homes.

A barrister representing Dr Gardner and Ms Harris told the court at a hearing in March that more than 20,000 elderly or disabled care home residents died from Covid between March and June 2020 in England and Wales.

Jason Coppel QC also said in a written case outline for the judicial review that the care home population was known to be "uniquely vulnerable" to Covid.

"The government's failure to protect it, and positive steps taken by the government which introduced Covid-19 infection into care homes, represent one of the most egregious and devastating policy failures in the modern era," he added.

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Source: BBC News, 27 April 2022