Matt Hancock admits care home pandemic plans 'as good as useless' as inquiry shown chilling texts

Matt Hancock has admitted that pandemic plans for care homes were "as good as useless" before Covid struck.

The shamed former Health Secretary pointed the finger of blame at local authorities and Public Health England as he faced questions at the Covid Inquiry. Bereaved families have said failure to protect people living in care homes amounted to "generational slaughter".

The politician-turned-TV-star had told the public that a "protective ring" was being placed around care homes. But when challenged about the remark said it was "not possible" to protect residents as much as he wanted.

The inquiry was shown a chilling message he was sent in April 2020 by health minister Helen Whately - now a key figure in Kemi Badenoch's team - warning that data on deaths was "not good".

Mr Hancock said local authorities were responsible for planning the impact of a pandemic on care homes. He told the inquiry he was horrified when he was shown the plans that two had put in place.

"It was a really shocking moment," he said. "It didn't take long to work out they were wholly inadequate." The top Tory - who stepped down at the general election last year - said the "penny dropped" in February 2020 that local plans were "as good as useless".

He also hit out at Public Health England, which issued guidance on February 25 saying: "It remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected."

Mr Hancock said he was "in a battle" with PHE and said: "By this time we knew there was a really serious problem so I have no idea why PHE said that."

READ MORE: All the concessions made to Keir Starmer's welfare bill and what happens next

The inquiry was shown messages between Mr Hancock and health minister Ms Whately - who is now Kemi Badenoch's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. On April 9 2020, Ms Whately said: "I'm afraid been sent first proper data on care home deaths just now and it's not good." She said she would discuss it with health officials.

The then-Health Secretary then responded simply: "Ok". Ms Whately then went on to warn her boss - who was due to give a Covid press conference just over an hour later: "Care home data may come up... we expect official ONS data on Tuesday will show a big jump in deaths."

Earlier messages showed Ms Whately flagged a care home with 11 suspected deaths, with staff refusing to work. She said international experts say care home residents and staff should be tested. Mr Hancock responded: "I'm up for this and the capacity to do this is growing fast."

The inquiry heard that on March 17 2020, hospitals were instructed to prioritise getting people out of hospital - even though Covid testing for people leaving was inadequate. Mr Hancock said he faced an "impossible choice" and described it as the "least bad" option.

At the time there was no requirement to isolate those leaving hospital. Asked if that was an error, he said: "With hindsight that is absolutely right. At the time with the clinical advice of asymptomatic transmission, that's not what was clinically recommended... but absolutely."

Pressed on why he was telling the public that a "protective ring" had been put around care homes, he said: "There were all sorts of things that were brought in... I would stress in that piece of rhetoric that what I said was he had tried. It was not possible to protect as much as I would have wanted."

Hitting out at his critics, he said: "I've seen even from this very chair people who were upset about me taking action that was necessary. They were rude about me at the time, they've been rude about me since but it saved lives and that was my job as Secretary of State."

It comes after bereaved families said Government failings around care homes amounted to "generational slaughter". In an earlier hearing Pete Weatherby KC, representing Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: "Although the phrase 'generational slaughter' within care homes may sound hyperbolic or rather colorful language, it chimes with the experience of thousands of our families.

He added: "We call out the callous way that family members were treated by politicians and policy makers, referring to them as bed blockers and people nearing the end regardless of the virus. This statement reflects that those in charge of policy lost their moral compass in dealing with those receiving care."

A 2022 High Court judgement ruled the care homes discharge policy was unlawful as it failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable care home residents of asymptomatic transmission. Between early March and early June 2020, nearly 20,000 care home residents in England and Wales died with Covid-19.

That was about a third of all care home deaths during that period.

READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster