Lessons can learnt say health leaders after High Court ruling
Local health leaders and managers have said the High Court ruling that untested patients being discharged from hospital to care homes was unlawful must lead to the same mistakes not being made again.
The ruling stated that Government policies on discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in England at the start of the Covid pandemic were unlawful, following a case brought to the High Court by Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris.
The High Court ruling by Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Garnham found the decisions of the then health secretary Matt Hancock to make and maintain a series of policies contained in documents issued on March 17 and 19 and April 2 2020 were unlawful.
They ruled this was on the grounds the drafters of those documents failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission, which had been highlighted by Sir Patrick Vallance in a radio interview as early as March 13.
When Covid hit in early 2020, patients were rapidly discharged into care homes without testing, despite the risk of asymptomatic transmission, with government documents showing there was no requirement for this until mid-April.
One of the homes affected by the policy was the Firs Care Home in Dudley, where a total of eight residents and three staff tested positive, although the home was able to ensure the virus was out of the home within a month.
Manager Vicky Harvey said: "What we went through in that time had massive consequences on us and other care homes as well as sending residents back home without being tested and we did have one woman who was sent home without being tested and did have Covid.
"I think going forward, the people responsible will have to learn by their mistakes and I do feel that care homes were pushed to the bottom of the list at the beginning and it took a long time before they started to prioritise us, instead of just hospitals and the NHS.
"What this will do is help us going forward and learn what to do in the future in case of any future pandemic, something that is going to affect the vulnerable and care homes will be places they will have to learn to not make the same mistakes again."
Sandwell Council cabinet member with responsibility for Adults, Social Care and Health Suzanne Hartwell said her heart went out to everyone who had lost a loved one due to mistakes made in the pandemic.
The councillor, who always works as a carer, said: "My heart just goes out to every single family that lost a mum, a dad, an aunt or uncle and that they couldn't go and visit in the pandemic.
"I haven't read the whole case yet, so I want to read it and understand it, but I definitely think lessons can be learnt from this and I'm united in the grief of all of those who passed away."
