Covid inquiry live: Matt Hancock’s claim of ‘protective ring’ around care homes was a ‘cruel lie’

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Covid PPE procurement saw ‘vast’ £10 billion waste, inquiry finds Stay on top of the latest political news with our View from Westminster newsletter Get the latest political headlines with our free email Get the latest political headlines with our free email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A campaign group for bereaved families from Covid-19 has called Matt Hancock ’s claim he had tried to throw a “protective ring” around care homes a “cruel lie”. Speaking on behalf of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, Jean Adamson, said: “Today’s report is a devastating account of one of the darkest episodes in our country’s history. “It shows that the government knew the care sector was extremely vulnerable to a pandemic and yet did nothing. Failing to act until it was too late. The former health secretary, who coined the phrase during a press conference in May 2020, told the Covid-19 inquiry that it was “clearly a piece of rhetoric” and “form of words rather than the substance”. The new report also found that many families were unable to visit their loved ones in care homes at the end of their life, which caused “immense upset and harm”. “While visits to people at the end of life should have been permitted, this did not always happen,” the inquiry found. “This resulted in many people dying alone without the comfort of their loved ones by their side. For many bereaved, this has led to prolonged grief, feelings of guilt and anger.” Key Points Matt Hancock’s claim of ‘protective ring’ around care homes was a 'cruel lie' Decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes without testing or vaccines ‘significant oversight’ ‘Protecting the NHS’ mantra ‘came at the expense’ of care patients and staff Families left unable to say goodbye to loved ones in care home ‘caused immense upset and harm’ Key findings of today’s Covid Inquiry report Matt Hancock’s claim of ‘protective ring’ around care homes was a 'cruel lie' Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said that Matt Hancock’s claim that a “protective ring” had been thrown around care homes was a “cruel lie”. Speaking on behalf of the group, Jean Adamson, said: “Today’s report is a devastating account of one of the darkest episodes in our country’s history. “It shows that the government knew the care sector was extremely vulnerable to a pandemic and yet did nothing. Failing to act until it was too late. “And It shows that Matt Hancock’s claim to have thrown a protective ring around care homes was a cruel lie.” She added: “The most at-risk people in our society, the sick, elderly – many of whom had a full and long life ahead of them – were failed by a government who abandoned them and left them to die. “Among them was my dad – Aldrick Adamson – Aldrick was a Windrush pioneer who came from Barbados to help rebuild Britain. He caught Covid in the nursing home where he lived. “When he became ill, we could only see him through his care home window. I was not even able to hold his hand. He died on 15 April 2020. “Like so many thousands, he died alone, isolated – a victim of covid, but also of government negligence.” Maryam Zakir-Hussain 20 October 2026 13:11 Families left unable to say goodbye to loved ones in care home ‘caused immense upset and harm’ Families being unable to visit their loved ones in care homes at the end of their life caused “immense upset and harm”, a major new report has found. Though visiting guidance during the Covid-19 outbreak did allow exceptions to be made for end-of-life visiting, many families were not permitted to be with their loved ones at the end of their lives. “While visits to people at the end of life should have been permitted, this did not always happen,” the inquiry found. “This resulted in many people dying alone without the comfort of their loved ones by their side. For many bereaved, this has led to prolonged grief, feelings of guilt and anger.” Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:47 Lack of family visitation caused ‘incalculable harm’ to care home residents who felt ‘abandoned’ and ‘alone’ The decision to stop families visiting loved ones in care homes during the pandemic caused “incalculable harm” that left residents feeling “abandoned” and “alone”, a new report has found. Though visiting guidance during the Covid-19 outbreak did allow exceptions to be made for end-of-life visiting, many families were not permitted to be with their loved ones. The latest Covid Inquiry report found that this resulted in a “significant decline” in the health and wellbeing of residents, causing “profound and enduring effects”. “Preventing visits caused incalculable harm to residents and their loved ones and often resulted in a significant decline in the health and wellbeing of residents, especially those with complex cognitive conditions such as dementia,” it found. “As some told the Inquiry’s listening exercise, Every Story Matters, the restrictions left residents feeling ‘isolated’, ‘abandoned’ and ‘alone’.” It added: “For people with complex cognitive conditions, such as dementia and learning disabilities, or communication difficulties, visits are critically important. Sustained interaction and connection with familiar faces helps to preserve cognitive function, reduce isolation and agitation, and improves emotional wellbeing beyond standard care.” ( AFP/Getty ) Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:37 ‘Protecting the NHS’ mantra ‘came at the expense’ of care patients and staff The Covid Inquiry has found that the adult care sector was treated as “something of an afterthought” during the pandemic, with the government’s ‘protecting the NHS’ mantra coming at the expense of care patients and staff. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard there were more than 43,000 deaths involving the virus in care homes across the UK between March 2020 and July 2022. The report found that failures to protect the adult care sector created environments that allowed the virus to “spread like wildfire”. “The adult social care sector as a whole also appeared to be something of an afterthought, where the mantra of ‘protecting the NHS’ sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care,” the inquiry found. The inquiry’s chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett, said that the high number of deaths in care homes in April 2020 brought the situation in care homes into “sharp focus”, but the shift in focus “came too late”. “It caused the UK government and devolved administrations to turn their attention to the adult social care sector, as their focus until then had very much been on the response of the healthcare system and ‘protecting the NHS’,” she wrote. “Given that it was well known that people receiving care were particularly vulnerable to any respiratory disease, let alone a deadly respiratory virus like Covid-19, that shift in focus came too late. Protective measures should have been put in place at the start of a pandemic, not once it had already taken hold.” The Covid Inquiry has published its latest report which is into how the pandemic was handled in the adult care sector (Alamy/PA) ( Alamy/PA ) Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:31 Inquiry chair on Matt Hancock’s claims: ‘Quite the opposite is true’ Inquiry chairwoman, Baroness Heather Hallett, has delivered a statement on the publication of the inquiry’s latest report into adult social care during the pandemic. She referenced former health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim he had tried to throw a “protective ring” around care homes, which the inquiry said was essentially unfounded. “At the critical early stages of the pandemic, not enough was done to protect those living and working in care homes,” Baroness Hallett said. “A claim that a so-called protective ring had been thrown around care homes right from the start was unfounded. “Quite the opposite is true. “During the crucial weeks of March and early April 2020, the overriding focus of the UK government and devolved administrations was on protecting hospitals. The mantra of protecting the NHS sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care.” Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett ( PA Archive ) Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:20 Key findings of today’s Covid Inquiry report Inquiry chairwoman, Baroness Heather Hallett, laid out a number of key findings in her latest report. Some of these included: Preventing visits to care homes “caused incalculable harm to residents and their loved ones and often resulted in a significant decline in the health and wellbeing of residents, especially those with complex cognitive conditions such as dementia”. Former health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim he had tried to throw a “protective ring” around care homes was essentially unfounded. Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for care workers “led to the wholly unacceptable position that care workers had to work either in unsuitable or poor-quality PPE, or with no PPE at all”, with some resorting to using festival waterproof ponchos, painters’ overalls, and gloves bought online as well as homemade PPE from fabric, bin bags, bed linen and other household items. The decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes without testing or vaccines ‘significant oversight’ Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions “made during the pandemic based on a person’s age, disability or health conditions, or without a personalised assessment to consider the person’s wishes and feelings, caused considerable distress and confusion for the individual, their loved ones and staff”. The inquiry branded this “unacceptable” and said it “must not happen again”. Support for the approximately 5.8 million unpaid carers across the UK “came too late” and the impact of the pandemic on them “was pronounced” as they faced having to give more complex care for longer hours “with less – if any – respite care”. Many of the at least 1.5 million care workers in the pandemic “put their lives at risk to provide care” but a lack of centrally recorded data on the number of care workers who died from the virus “hindered the ability of the UK government and devolved administrations to understand the severity and transmission of the virus and its impact on the social care workforce”. Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:12 Recommendations of Heather Hallett’s report The Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry has made eight key recommendations, including: Improving arrangements for pandemic planning to ensure clearer structure, roles and responsibilities. Better planning for the safe isolation of care home residents. Implementing financial support schemes ready to be rolled out to support adult social care staff to self-isolate or to limit staff movement. Publishing guidance on visiting restrictions. Maintaining inspection and oversight by developing protocols to enable inspections to continue, including, where possible, on-site inspections. Improving the collection of data about deaths in the adult social care sector. Establishing mandatory end-of-life care training for relevant health and social care workers. Introducing a voluntary register for the social care workforce in England, recognising and supporting a workforce that already benefits from such registers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Athena Stavrou 20 October 2026 12:07 Decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes without testing or vaccines ‘significant oversight’ The decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes to free up space without sufficient testing, vaccines, or isolation was a “significant oversight”, a major report has found. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, hospital patients were rapidly discharged into care homes in a bid to free up beds and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed. However, there was no policy in place requiring patients to be tested before admission, or for asymptomatic patients to isolate, until mid-April, despite growing awareness of the risks of people without Covid-19 symptoms being able to spread the virus. There was also no vaccines at the time, and a significant shortage of protective equipment (PPE).