Government failures caused Covid-19 to spread “like wildfire” among vulnerable and elderly people, and Matt Hancock’s “protective ring” around care homes did not exist, a public inquiry has found.
Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, said the care sector was an “afterthought” and rejected the former health secretary’s long-held claim that he threw a “protective ring” around care homes from the start of the pandemic, saying it was “unfounded” and the “opposite was true”.
She described the government’s failure to advise that patients discharged from hospitals into care homes should be isolated was a “significant omission”, which led the virus to spread rapidly among residents and staff.
Lady Hallett also said preventing visits to care homes led to “immense emotional harm” for residents and left them with “profound isolation and a sense of abandonment”.
“The adult social care sector as a whole appeared to be something of an afterthought, where the mantra of ‘protecting the NHS’ sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care,” she said.
“Care homes received insufficient protection at the time they most needed it. These failures created environments in care settings in which the virus could spread like wildfire.
“Most distressingly, some people were not permitted to be with their dying loved ones. Many remain racked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry.”
Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2026
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