Boris Johnson’s maverick former chief aide instructed MPs in a sensational five-hour grilling that the reality was ‘fairly the other’ as a result of ‘we despatched folks with Covid again to the care houses’
Matt Hancock’s declare that the Authorities threw a ‘defend’ round care houses is ‘full nonsense’, Dominic Cummings insisted right now.
Boris Johnson’s maverick former chief aide instructed MPs in a sensational five-hour grilling that the reality was ‘fairly the other’ as a result of ‘we despatched folks with Covid again to the care houses’.
Greater than 30,000 care dwelling residents have died from Covid, with the scandalous fatality toll largely blamed on the transfer to discharge hundreds of hospital sufferers into houses with out testing them, with the intention of releasing up NHS beds to make room for an inevitable onslaught of coronavirus sufferers.
Taking intention at Matt Hancock over the scandal, Mr Cummings claimed the Well being Secretary ‘categorically’ instructed the Prime Minister in March that each one hospital sufferers can be being allowed into care houses.
However he alleged that Boris Johnson was livid when he returned to workplace on the finish of April following his near-death battle with coronavirus to find the promise wasn’t stored.
Mr Cummings instructed MPs: ‘In order that was one of many different issues that I, that we, discovered surprising, that once we realised in April that this had occurred, the Prime Minister mentioned a much less well mannered model of “what on earth are you telling me?”.
‘When he got here again after being unwell: ‘What on earth has occurred with all these folks in care houses? Hancock instructed us within the Cupboard Room that folks have been going to be examined earlier than they went again to care houses, what the hell occurred?”‘
Giving proof to MPs in regards to the Authorities’s catastrophic response to the Covid pandemic, Mr Cummings mentioned he and the Prime Minister had been instructed ‘categorically in March that folks will probably be examined earlier than they went again to care houses’.
He added: ‘We solely subsequently discovered that hadn’t occurred. Now all of the Authorities rhetoric of “we put a defend round care houses” and blah blah was full nonsense.
‘Fairly the other of placing a defend round them, we despatched folks with Covid again to the care houses.’
It was not Mr Cummings’ solely assault on the Well being Secretary, accusing him of ‘mendacity’ about PPE and entry for therapy for these affected by the illness.
Greater than 30,000 care dwelling residents have died from Covid, with the scandalous fatality toll largely blamed on the transfer to discharge hundreds of hospital sufferers into houses with out testing them, with the intention of releasing up NHS beds to make room for an inevitable onslaught of coronavirus sufferers
He additionally claimed Mr Hancock ‘ought to have been fired for at the least 15, 20 issues’, and revealed that he instructed the PM he was ‘not ready to work with folks like Hancock any extra’.
Mr Cummings accused the Authorities’s response to the pandemic of being the right instance of ‘lions led by donkeys’, attacking the whole system for being ‘chaos’.
There have been 36,275 deaths involving Covid in care houses for the reason that pandemic started, based on the newest figures from the UK’s statistics businesses. Greater than 400 residents have been dying every day in the course of the darkest spell of the primary wave.
In April 2020, Mr Hancock got here underneath fireplace for permitting sufferers to be discharged to care houses with no Covid check.
Throughout media interviews, Mr Hancock insisted that from the start of the pandemic, the Authorities had tried to ‘throw a protecting ring round our care houses’.
However MPs final yr claimed houses have been ‘thrown to the wolves’ in the course of the pandemic and the Authorities’s actions have been ‘at instances negligent’.
The social care disaster was exacerbated additional by a collection of ‘reckless’ and ‘appalling’ coverage errors, based on a damning Commons public accounts committee report. Advising hospitals to discharge hundreds of sufferers into care houses with out realizing if they’d coronavirus was an instance of this, they mentioned.
Taking intention at Matt Hancock over the scandal, Mr Cummings claimed the Well being Secretary ‘categorically’ instructed the Prime Minister in March that each one hospital sufferers can be being allowed into care houses. However he alleged that Boris Johnson was livid when he returned to workplace on the finish of April following his near-death battle with coronavirus to find the promise wasn’t stored. Mr Johnson is pictured right now within the Home of Commons, whereas Mr Hancock was snapped working outdoors his London dwelling this morning
At the least 25,000 sufferers have been moved from hospitals to care houses between March 17 and April 15, when there was a scarcity of rigorous testing. Estimates counsel round two-thirds weren’t swabbed.
The Nationwide Audit Workplace, which reviewed the scandal, mentioned hospitals have been instructed on March 17 to ‘discharge urgently’ all in-patients medically match to go away with the intention to enhance capability’.
Its report on the time added: ‘On account of authorities coverage on the time, not all sufferers have been examined for Covid earlier than discharge, with precedence given to sufferers with signs.
‘On April 15, the coverage was modified to check all these being discharged into care houses. It isn’t identified what number of sufferers discharged to care houses had Covid on the level they left hospital.’
Care dwelling bosses additionally warned that their workers did not have sufficient entry to private protecting gear comparable to gloves, masks and aprons. The trade additionally warned of a scarcity of testing firstly of the disaster, when swabs have been rationed due to a scarcity of provide.
Officers additionally requested care houses to take Covid sufferers once more within the winter. Underneath the scheme, designed to liberate hospital beds and shield the NHS within the second wave, Covid-secure houses which handed inspection have been requested to deal with contaminated sufferers.
Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the Nationwide Care Affiliation, mentioned that Mr Cummings’ remarks about care houses have been met with ‘disappointment’.
She mentioned: ‘It’s with nice disappointment that listening to Mr Cummings it emerges our preliminary ideas and the proof that was round us was proper – that there was no defend round care houses, there was no thought on the influence on the weak folks that we take care of.
‘Folks have been being discharged out of hospital into our providers to save lots of the NHS and put not solely the folks discharged, their lives, have been put in danger, however the individuals who have been in our providers in danger.
‘My response is nice disappointment that the sector was lied to from the outset – we have been lied to about any plan, it’s clear there was no plan; we have been lied to in regards to the protecting defend once we know there was no protecting defend and it’s disappointing to notice that the testing that we have been promised by no means passed off.’
Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall mentioned: ‘Mr Cummings’ feedback have revealed what we knew all alongside – that the Authorities’s ‘protecting defend’ round care houses throughout this pandemic didn’t exist.
‘Over 30,000 care dwelling residents have died of coronavirus throughout this pandemic – 25,000 aged folks have been discharged from hospitals to care houses with none exams in any way, and frontline care employees have been left with out PPE.
‘The Authorities was a lot too sluggish to behave to guard residents and workers. As we emerge from this pandemic ministers should put in place a plan to rework social care and be sure that care houses by no means once more face a disaster of this scale.’
Labour MP Barbara Keeley, a member of the committee questioning Mr Cummings, tweeted: ‘The proof from Dominic Cummings right now was clear – firstly of this pandemic, residents in care houses have been sacrificed with the intention to liberate beds in hospitals.
‘Matt Hancock should come clarify why the promise that sufferers can be examined earlier than discharge wasn’t stored.’
Downing Road defended its dealing with of care houses as Mr Cummings continued to offer proof.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman mentioned: ‘With regard to care houses, we have all the time been guided by the newest recommendation at the moment and we have taken numerous steps to guard care dwelling residents and people being discharged from hospitals into care houses.’
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