Families are holding the Government accountable for their loved one’s deaths.
Dr Cathy Gardner – whose 88-year-old father, Michael Gibson, died on 3 April of suspected COVID-19 in an aged care home that accepted discharged patients – lodged a challenge in the High Court, claiming that UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock misled the public when he said the government threw “a protective ring” around care homes.
As we covered here, providers were forced to take in discharged hospital patients regardless or not they had tested negative at the height of the pandemic – with over 25,000 patients moved from hospital to care homes between mid-March and mid-April before the guidance was changed to ensure testing took place.
Dr Gardner requested a judicial review of the government’s strategy, alleging that it broke the law and that Mr Hancock, NHS England and Public Health England “failed to take into account the vulnerability of care home residents and staff to infection and death, the inadequacy of testing and PPE availability”.
But lawyers for the Secretary have told her legal team that he and the other defendants took “extensive measures to protect the people who live and work in care homes in response to the risks posed by COVID-19” and denied it had breached the NHS Act 2006, which requires the Secretary to take steps to protect the public in England “from disease or other dangers to health”.
The Government added it was appropriate to adapt policies as new information emerged during the pandemic.
“Guidance and other material are often developed at extremely short notice,” it stated.
Dr Gardner has labelled the responses “shameful” and says that she will continue to press for the judicial review “so that the plight of residents and staff at care homes is not allowed to be given low priority again”.
Over 22,000 deaths have been reported in aged care homes across the UK.
