Covid Care Home Policy Was 'least Worst Decision' - Hancock

Former wellness caput Matt Hancock has denied claims nan government's effort to propulsion a protective ringing astir attraction homes successful 2020, early successful nan Covid pandemic, was quiet rhetoric.

In an irritable speech he urged nan Covid Inquiry to attraction connected nan constituent of what nan authorities was doing astatine nan time.

Mr Hancock said nan determination to discharge patients from hospitals into attraction homes erstwhile testing was not available, was "the slightest worst solution".

Nicola Brook, a lawyer representing bereaved families called his comments "an reproach to nan representation of each and each personification who died".

Mr Hancock was responsible for attraction services successful England wherever much than 43,000 group died pinch Covid betwixt March 2020 and January 2022, galore of them successful nan early weeks of nan pandemic.

On Monday, nan lawyer representing a bereaved families group quoted a civilian servant who said the precocious number of deaths successful attraction homes amounted to "generational slaughter".

Responding to questions from nan barrister to nan enquiry Jacqueline Carey KC, Mr Hancock said: "You cognize location whitethorn beryllium run groups and politically-motivated bodies that opportunity different things.

"What I attraction astir though is nan substance, and frankly that's what this enquiry should attraction astir aft each nan millions of pounds that person been spent connected it."

Inquiry chair Lady Hallett, responded: "And I tin guarantee you, Mr Hancock, it is what I attraction about."

The existent conception of nan Covid enquiry is apt to beryllium "emotive and distressing", Ms Carey has warned.

Questioned by Ms Carey, Mr Hancock acknowledged nan discharge argumentation was an "incredibly contentious issue".

But he added: "Nobody has yet provided maine pinch an replacement that was disposable astatine nan clip that would person saved much lives."

And he told nan inquiry: "It's nan least-worst determination that could person been taken astatine nan time."

When nan pandemic deed early successful 2020, infirmary patients were quickly discharged into attraction homes successful a bid to free up beds and forestall nan NHS from becoming overwhelmed.

However, location was nary argumentation successful spot requiring patients to beryllium tested earlier admission, aliases for asymptomatic patients to isolate, until mid-April.

This was contempt increasing consciousness of nan risks of group without Covid-19 symptoms being capable to dispersed nan virus.

As his seventh and apt last quality astatine nan enquiry drew to a close, Mr Hancock admitted his overstretched section was "unbelievably busy, responding to nan biggest civilian emergency successful 100 years".

In sometimes tense exchanges, he fielded questions from Kate Beattie representing abnormal people's organisations and Pete Weatherby, barrister for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK.

Mr Weatherby asked whether Mr Hancock had utilized nan deficiency of "levers" disposable to him to enactment connected Covid astatine nan commencement of nan pandemic arsenic "an excuse for things erstwhile they went wrong".

"This is simply a very easy point to opportunity pinch hindsight," Mr Hancock responded.

"The reality of nan business is that I had to enactment pinch nan devices that I had and that's what I did, and drove nan life-saving effort to make judge things weren't moreover worse than they were."

Elsewhere, successful consequence to wide-ranging questioning, Mr Hancock described nan conception of broad 'do not effort resuscitation' orders arsenic "abhorrent".

He said he only saw this hap erstwhile "and we jumped connected it".

If that argumentation was much widespread, he said: "It did not travel to my attraction and, if it did happen, it's wholly unacceptable."

Mr Hancock said nan societal attraction assemblage "was severely successful request of and remains severely successful request of reform", adding that successful nan arena of different pandemic, he feared nan business had go "worse not better".

Lawyer Nicola Brook said Mr Hancock knew astatine nan clip that galore attraction homes did not person nan expertise to isolate group who would beryllium discharged from hospital, and that Covid was airborne.

"It's frankly ridiculous and insulting that he says they tried to propulsion a protective ringing astir attraction homes erstwhile his department's policies caused Covid to dispersed for illustration wildfire amongst society's astir susceptible loved ones," she said.