Boris Johnson’s reported comments on care homes are a disgrace. It is clear that neither he nor his Government nor the relevant Civil Service have a clue as to how care homes operate and the challenges they face. Care homes have had to make tough and unpopular decisions to protect and support their residents and their staff. One of those challenges was misleading advice from the Government encouraging the discharge of patients without negative COVID test results into care homes to relieve pressure on the NHS but exposing the most dependent in care homes and the dedicated staff looking after them to greater danger.
It is high time Government faced up to the very real problems posed in the management of care in care homes and where those residents are supported by public funds by woefully inadequate finance.
The circumstances in which care staff have had to work have been difficult. It is simply not good enough that they should have to tolerate insult on top of that injury.
