New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Science & Tech
  2. Coronavirus
24 April 2020updated 08 Nov 2021 4:53pm

How the UK’s care homes were abandoned to coronavirus

Testimonies from across our neglected social care system tell the story of a virus allowed to run rampant and workers placed in unacceptable danger.

By Anoosh Chakelian

On 6 March, as the World Health Organisation told all countries to make containment of the novel coronavirus “their highest priority”, Matt Hancock sent a letter to MPs and peers.

The Health Secretary was seeking “proposed solutions” to the UK’s crisis in social care, an issue that has haunted politics for many years. Sent the day after Italy banned all visits to care homes, the letter was, in effect, a concession that — despite 20 years of green papers, white papers, royal commissions and independent reviews — the 2020 budget would not contain a long-term plan for the funding of social care.

Subscribe to The New Statesman today for only £1 per week
“Death certificates say pneumonia, dementia” 
“They are sitting ducks” 
“The advice has been warm water, lemon, and honey” 
“For a week, we only had four masks” 
“Maximum risk for minimum wage”
“Some carers will start to refuse to work” 
[related_companies]
Content from our partners
The future of exams
Skills are the key to economic growth
Skills Transition is investing in UK skills and jobs