Matt Hancock admits ‘protective ring’ around care homes was ‘impossible’ during fiery exchange at Covid inquiry
Covid-era health secretary Matt Hancock defended claims he ‘tried to put a protective ring around care homes’, but admitted it was an ‘impossible’ task.
The former politician hit back at the suggestion not enough was done to keep elderly and vulnerable residents and care staff safe as infections spiralled out of control.
Mr Hancock was robust – and told off for interrupting Covid-19 Inquiry chairman Lady Heather Hallett for interupting her – as he responded to questions posed to him by lawyers during often-tetchy exchanges.
The inquiry in London today heard there was a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for care homes, and that Covid patients were discharged from hospital without being tested or isolated upon arrival.
The sector suffered from a lack of staff, who were permitted to work at multiple care homes potentially increasing the risk of introducing infection, the inquiry heard.
But Mr Hancock said he and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) ‘were trying to do everything we could’.
Jacqueline Carey KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked: ‘I am just trying to understand … what was the protection for the care homes, Mr Hancock?’
Mr Hancock replied: ‘The question we faced was: what was the best policy?’
Former health secretary Matt Hancock refused to back down over a series of decisions made relating to care homes while in government during the pandemic
Mr Hancock arrived at the Covid Inquiry in Paddington, London, at around 8.30am today
The former Tory politician, who stood down as an MP last year, was health secretary during the pandemic
Ms Carey shot back: ‘That’s not what I asked you.’
But the combative witness, appearing before the Covid-19 Inquiry for the seventh time since it started two years ago, replied: ‘It may not be what was asked but it was what was valid at the time.
‘The protection at the time was clearly not as much as we would have liked. But the alternatives were even worse.’
Mr Hancock was asked about a Downing Street press conference he gave in May 2020 when he described how he ‘tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes’.
He told the inquiry: ‘I would stress, in that piece of rhetoric, that what I said is that we ‘tried’.
‘It was not possible to protect as much as I would have wanted.’
Mr Hancock said his decision-making ‘ruffled feathers’, and was prevented from taking certain action in the early days of the pandemic due to being blocked by Public Health England and Downing Street.
Previous sections of the inquiry heard about dysfunction at the heart of Government, often involving firebrand former Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings.
Mr Hancock, who arrived at the inquiry clutching a black brief case, previously gave evidence six times to the multi-year investigation
Mr Hancock described it as an ‘impossible’ task to completely protect care homes, but said the Department of Health and Social Care did its best
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Failures led to the ‘generational slaughter’ of vulnerable in care homes, inquiry told
Mr Hancock briefly acknowledged tensions between departments and personnel during his evidence, and reminded the inquiry he also fell ill with coronavirus in early 2020.
He said: ‘All of these things needed fixing and one by one we did everything we could to fix them.
‘Remember at the time I also had Dominic Cummings and a load of people also causing all sorts of problems for me. And I had Covid.’
He added: ‘Sure I ruffled feathers in getting stuff done, and people have had a go at me over it – but I’ve been through everything that we did as a department, a big team effort, and we were all pulling as hard as we possibly could to save lives.
‘That what I meant by saying that we ‘tried to throw a protective ring around it’.
‘Of course it wasn’t perfect, it was impossible.’
Nicola Brook, a solicitor representing more than 7,000 families from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said Mr Hancock’s claim that the discharge policy had been the least-worst decision available was ‘an insult to the memory of each and every person who died’.
This latest phase of the inquiry, focusing on the care sector, previously heard from a civil servant seconded to Mr Hancock’s department who said government failures led to a ‘generational slaughter’ of the elderly and vulnerable.
Mr Hancock, pictured at a previous appearance before the Covid-19 inquiry, admitted his affair with an aide damaged public confidence in the Government
More than 43,000 people died with Covid in care homes across the UK between March 2020 and July 2022.
Mr Hancock resigned as Health Secretary in summer 2021 after it emerged he kissed close aide Gina Coladangelo in his office, breaking social distancing rules he helped create.
He sat as an independent MP after losing the Tory party whip in November 2022 for appearing on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity reality TV show.
He stood down as an MP altogether at last year’s General Election.
In his memoirs, the Pandemic Diaries, Mr Hancock described himself as being ‘in the hotseat’ from the moment the first cases began in Wuhan.
He said: ‘It was the most important thing I have done in my life and I gave it my all.
‘For the best part of 18 months, I spent almost every waking hour managing our response, alongside the many amazing healthcare professionals, carers, public servants and other key workers who did so much to save lives and keep the country going.
‘All I can say is that I did everything I could.’
Mr Hancock had an affair with Gina Coladangelo
The former MP finished in third place on the 2022 series of I’m A Celebrity…
He first gave evidence to the inquiry in June 2023, when he apologised to the bereaved and admitted the UK’s strategy for dealing with a pandemic was ‘woefully inadequate’.
But grieving families accused Mr Hancock of being ‘disingenuous’ and refusing to take ‘any responsibility’.
The inquiry has previously focused on topics including Government decision-making, vaccines and procurement since evidential hearings began in 2023.
There are at least four further modules to come before the inquiry makes its final conclusions in 2027, at an estimated cost of more than £220 million to the taxpayer.
This would make it the most expensive inquiry in British history.
