Matt Hancock's justification of Covid care home policy has sparked industry ... trends now

Matt Hancock's steadfast defence of his handling of care homes during the Covid pandemic has sparked outrage within the industry.

The former health secretary detailed in his pandemic diaries the Government's early decision making in trying to keep the nation's frail and elderly community safe.

Industry insiders have today said they're most frustrated by Mr Hancock's adamance that he'd introduced a 'protective ring' around care homes.  

Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the National Care Association, told The Times: 'Matt Hancock's memory of events bears no resemblance to the facts. In reality, the only protective ring was thrown around the NHS. 

'There was no thought for social care. I think it's a huge insult that he has written this book in the way that he has for his own gain.'

Meanwhile David Crabtree, of Crabtree Care Homes, two residential homes in Bradford, West Yorkshire, said 'the sector is up in arms' after reading several early entries from Mr Hancock's not-yet-released book.

'This is a man who lied when he said there was a ring of protection around care homes,' he said.

Mr Hancock faced fierce criticism over the Government's decision in the early stages of the outbreak to discharge potentially infectious Covid patients from hospitals into care homes without prior testing.

The policy has been blamed by many for the huge numbers of Covid deaths in care facilities during the first wave of the pandemic, when an estimated 20,000 elderly residents died.

Mr Hancock insists that only a fraction of the Covid cases in care homes – as few as 1.2 per cent – were actually caused by hospital discharges. 

He says he was shown evidence suggesting that the virus was 'primarily' brought into homes by infected staff.

The former health secretary has made no secret of his mistakes in his pandemic diaries, and staunch supporters say he was given 'an impossible job to do' and handled it as best he could.