A care home owner has claimed those in social care were treated like “lambs to the slaughter” during the pandemic.
It comes following staggering claims suggesting ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock rejected advice while in the role to test all residents going into English care homes.
The allegations are based on a leaked trove over over 100,000 WhatsApp messages obtained by the Daily Telegraph giving an insight into the way the Government operated at the height of the Covid crisis.
Hancock has strongly denied the accusations, with a spokesman saying the claim he rejected clinical advice on care homes is “flat wrong”.
Nicola Richards says those in social care were treated like 'lambs to slaughter'
GB News
Care home owner Nicola Richards has told GB News that the “protective ring” promised by Hancock “never existed”.
She said: “We know from providers across the country that just didn’t happen.
“It doesn’t come as a surprise, what we’ve seen leaked today, the testing was just not available.
“We were lambs to the slaughter in social care and it’s quite emotional to talk about this today.”
A spokesman alleged the messages, provided to the Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, have been spun in order to “fit an anti-lockdown agenda”.
The Telegraph’s investigation revealed England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty told the then-health secretary in April 2020 there should be testing for “all going into care homes”.
Mr Hancock described it as “obviously a good positive step”.
But the exchanges, from April 14, 2020, suggest Hancock ultimately rejected the guidance, telling an aide the move just “muddies the waters”, and introduced mandatory testing only for those coming from hospitals rather than the community.
Matt Hancock has threatened to sue the Daily Telegraph newspaperPAAllies of Hancock said that was because a lack of testing capacity meant it was not possible to check everyone entering a care home.
A spokesman for Mr Hancock said: “These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing. This is flat wrong.”
Mr Hancock “enthusiastically accepted” the advice from Sir Chris on April 14.
But “later that day he convened an operational meeting on delivering testing for care homes where he was advised it was not currently possible to test everyone entering care homes, which he also accepted”.
“Matt concluded that the testing of people leaving hospital for care homes should be prioritised because of the higher risks of transmission, as it wasn’t possible to mandate everyone going into care homes got tested.”
The spokesman added: “He went as far as was possible, as fast as possible, to expand testing and save lives.
“This story categorically shows that the right place for this analysis of what happened in the pandemic is in the inquiry.”
Richards continued by hitting out at the guidance offered by the Government, saying it changed “so often” throughout the height of the pandemic.
She told GB News: “From March to April, we were often informed by the media on guidance changes.
“Providers couldn’t keep up with the guidance. There was no testing, there was a lack of testing facilities. When we heard of so-many thousands being tested a day, it simply didn’t happen.
“We lost 30 residents of our loved ones in our care when they should have been protected. The protective ring never existed.”
As he battled to meet his own target of 100,000 coronavirus tests per day, the investigation shows Mr Hancock texted his former boss George Osborne, the ex-chancellor who was then editing the Evening Standard, to “call in a favour”.
Matt Hancock and Chris Whitty during the height of the pandemicPAMr Hancock said he has thousands of spare testing slots which is “obvs good news about spread of virus” but “hard for my target” as he asked for front-page coverage.
Mr Osborne responded: “Yes – of course – all you need to do tomorrow is give some exclusive words to the Standard and I’ll tell the team to splash it.”
The then-health secretary later added: “I WANT TO HIT MY TARGET!”
Labour has been granted an urgent question in the Commons over care home testing.
Declining to comment directly on the leaks, a Government spokesman said: “We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic.
“We are committed to learning from the Covid inquiry’s findings, which will play a key role in informing the Government’s planning and preparations for the future.”