Latest news with #carehomes
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Matt Hancock back at Covid inquiry for probe into pandemic impact on care homes
Former health secretary Matt Hancock is among witnesses to appear before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry as it investigates the pandemic's impact on the care sector. Mr Hancock, who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting breaking social distancing guidance by having an affair with a colleague, has given evidence to the inquiry multiple times. He will return on Wednesday for a full-day session to face questions specifically about the adult social care sector. In a previous appearance before the inquiry he admitted the so-called protective ring he said had been put around care homes early in the pandemic was not an unbroken one and insisted he understands the strength of feeling people have on the issue. At a Downing Street press conference on May 15 2020, Mr Hancock said: 'Right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.' Bereaved families have previously branded this phrase a 'sickening lie' and a 'joke'. 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. This was despite growing awareness of the risks of people without Covid-19 symptoms being able to spread the virus. A lawyer for the families from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) campaign group described Mr Hancock's appearance as a 'seminal moment of the Covid inquiry that many of our clients have been waiting for'. Nicola Brook, from Broudie Jackson Canter which represents more than 7,000 families from CBFFJ, said: 'While Mr Hancock has given evidence to the inquiry before, this is the first time that he has been called early in a module, meaning he won't be able to simply respond to others' evidence. 'I only hope that he tells the truth about what he knew about the decision to discharge Covid-infected patients into care homes, which was the biggest scandal of the whole pandemic. Only then will our clients be able to get some form of closure.' From Monday, module six of the inquiry will look at the effect the pandemic had on both the publicly and privately funded adult social care sector across the UK. Among the issues to be examined will be decisions made by the UK Government and devolved administrations on moving people from hospitals into adult care and residential homes in the early stages of the pandemic. The module will also consider how the pandemic was managed in care and residential homes, including infection prevention and control measures, testing for the virus, the availability and adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the restrictions on access to such locations by healthcare professionals and loved ones. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said many older people in care homes 'had a truly terrible time during the pandemic'. She added: 'Those older people who survived and are still with us, and their families, have waited a long time for the pandemic inquiry to focus on their experiences but now their turn has finally come, so it's a big moment for them and for the inquiry too.' The CBFFJ group has written to inquiry chairwoman, Baroness Heather Hallett, to express their concern at some 'key decision-makers' not expected to be called in this module, including former prime minister Boris Johnson. They said: 'Without those who were responsible for critical policies like discharging untested hospital patients into care homes, the inquiry cannot deliver a full or credible account of what happened.' They insisted the module must be 'a turning point' rather than 'an afterthought'. 'What happened in the care sector during the pandemic is a national scar. To fail to learn the right lessons now would compound the injustice and place future lives at risk,' they added. Members of bereaved groups from across the UK are due to give evidence on Tuesday, while representatives of the National Care Forum and Royal College of Nursing will give evidence on Thursday. Public hearings for the care sector module are expected to run until the end of July.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Matt Hancock back at Covid inquiry for probe into pandemic impact on care homes
Former health secretary Matt Hancock is among witnesses to appear before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry as it investigates the pandemic's impact on the care sector. Mr Hancock, who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting breaking social distancing guidance by having an affair with a colleague, has given evidence to the inquiry multiple times. He will return on Wednesday to face questions specifically about the adult social care sector. In a previous appearance before the inquiry he admitted the so-called protective ring he said had been put around care homes early in the pandemic was not an unbroken one and insisted he understands the strength of feeling people have on the issue. At a Downing Street press conference on May 15 2020, Mr Hancock said: 'Right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.' Bereaved families have previously branded this phrase a 'sickening lie' and a 'joke'. 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. This was despite growing awareness of the risks of people without Covid-19 symptoms being able to spread the virus. A lawyer for the families from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) campaign group described Mr Hancock's appearance as a 'seminal moment of the Covid inquiry that many of our clients have been waiting for'. Nicola Brook, from Broudie Jackson Canter which represents more than 7,000 families from CBFFJ, said: 'While Mr Hancock has given evidence to the inquiry before, this is the first time that he has been called early in a module, meaning he won't be able to simply respond to others' evidence. 'I only hope that he tells the truth about what he knew about the decision to discharge Covid-infected patients into care homes, which was the biggest scandal of the whole pandemic. Only then will our clients be able to get some form of closure.' From Monday, module six of the inquiry will look at the effect the pandemic had on both the publicly and privately funded adult social care sector across the UK. Among the issues to be examined will be decisions made by the UK Government and devolved administrations on moving people from hospitals into adult care and residential homes in the early stages of the pandemic. The module will also consider how the pandemic was managed in care and residential homes, including infection prevention and control measures, testing for the virus, the availability and adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the restrictions on access to such locations by healthcare professionals and loved ones. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said many older people in care homes 'had a truly terrible time during the pandemic'. She added: 'Those older people who survived and are still with us, and their families, have waited a long time for the pandemic inquiry to focus on their experiences but now their turn has finally come, so it's a big moment for them and for the inquiry too.' The CBFFJ group has written to inquiry chairwoman, Baroness Heather Hallett, to express their concern at some 'key decision-makers' not expected to be called in this module, including former prime minister Boris Johnson. They said: 'Without those who were responsible for critical policies like discharging untested hospital patients into care homes, the inquiry cannot deliver a full or credible account of what happened.' They insisted the module must be 'a turning point' rather than 'an afterthought'. 'What happened in the care sector during the pandemic is a national scar. To fail to learn the right lessons now would compound the injustice and place future lives at risk,' they added. Public hearings for the care sector module are expected to run until the end of July.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
UK schools and offices not equipped for impact of global heating, report warns
The UK's schools, care homes and offices are not equipped for the effects of global heating and face lengthy heatwaves even in optimistic scenarios, according to a groundbreaking report that calls for climate resilience to be declared a national emergency. The report by the UK Green Building Council also predicts that towns including Peterborough and Fairbourne will be uninhabitable by the end of the century because of flooding. Produced over two years, the roadmap sets out a blueprint for action and warns that without the adaptation of millions of buildings, there will be increased injury, health impacts, deaths and untold economic damage. Five key threats are examined by the roadmap: overheating, wildfires, flooding, drought and storms. Detailed thermodynamic modelling on school buildings reveals that schools across London and the south-east will face 10 weeks of extreme heat a year – defined as 28C and above – in a low-warming scenario, defined as 2C above preindustrial levels. The world is on track for 2.7C of heating. The roadmap modelling warns that 6m houses and flats in London and the south-east will face three weeks above 28C a year in the same low-warming scenario, causing economic damage from reduced productivity of employees, and health threats to vulnerable and older people. Care homes in London and the south-east, where residents are extremely vulnerable, will be face temperatures above 28C for four weeks a year in the low-warming scenario, the roadmap predicts. Ordinary offices where the productivity of millions of workers is key to economic growth, are also woefully underprepared for the onslaught of extreme weather now and in the years to come, the report says. The modelling says modern buildings are more vulnerable to overheating than older ones because they have larger areas of glass and are of a more lightweight construction. Adaptation measures for buildings could include the use of solar shading and replacing regular glass with solar glass. So-called passive adaptation is recommended before things such as air conditioning, which increase energy usage and emissions. 'It is within our power to design buildings and cities that are safer, more comfortable and resilient to the impacts of the changing climate, and it is vitally important that we act now to do so,' the roadmap says. The report, which is launched on Thursday, calls for: The appointment of a minister for resilience within the Cabinet Office A new legal objective to ensure all planning decisions deliver climate safety. A more ambitious future homes standard to protect against increasing climate hazards – overheating, flooding and water scarcity. A comprehensive retrofit strategy to make homes and buildings climate safe. The protection of all communities with trees, parks and ponds. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The government's new planning and infrastructure bill does not include a mandate to make buildings climate safe from overheating, flooding, wildfires or droughts. It has been criticised for placing too much emphasis on growth rather than the green environment. London tops a list of the cities and towns most vulnerable to wildfires, drought and flooding, with Birmingham and Manchester second and third most at risk, according to the analysis. The flood impact on the town of Peterborough will make it uninhabitable by the end of the century, the analysis says. In Wales, the town of Fairbourne, which sits between Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) and the Irish Sea, will also be uninhabitable as a result of flooding and sea-level rises. Simon McWhirter, the chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said the roadmap starkly illustrated the threats of a changing climate and said the response could not be delayed. Calling for the appointment of a minister for resilience within the Cabinet Office, he said: 'The UK is not ready for the extreme weather events of today, even less so for the hotter, wetter and wilder climate that is already racing down the track at us. Our homes, schools, hospitals, parks and offices are on the frontline, protecting and nurturing us. We need a fundamental rethink … if we are to help protect people and our way of life.'
The Guardian
5 days ago
- The Guardian
Casey review: wider concerns on child welfare must be addressed
Louise Casey's report (Grooming gangs in UK thrived in 'culture of ignorance', Casey report says, 16 June) makes good sense. Nevertheless, her recommendations, and those who must act on them, won't prevent the exploitation and abuse of children in care. In her appearance at the home affairs select committee last week, she highlighted how the system had failed the children 'missing' from care. As so often happens, the system ends up protecting the organisation rather than the child. If children's home workers follow procedure and conduct a return-home interview with the child, they are deemed to have done their job. But in some good children's homes, where workers are supported to be personally and collectively concerned for every child, they will worry; they will stay up all night; sometimes they go out searching for the child, putting themselves at considerable risk. They will do what a good parent would do. Filling forms and following procedures does not protect children. However, such good children's homes are rare. Local and national governments are wary of the risks involved in such direct personal concern and commitment. The owners and directors of children's homes will avoid challenging officialdom, thereby making it more difficult to encourage grownups to make the commitment that every child needs. By attempting to avoid risk and accountability, yet be seen to take action, politicians may make it less likely that children find relationships of direct personal concern in care homes. John BurtonAuthor, Leading Good Care: The Task, Heart and Art of Managing Social Care The limitations of the data regarding perpetrators of child sexual exploitation are, understandably, highlighted once again (Public must 'keep calm' over ethnicity of grooming gang offenders, says Louise Casey, 17 June). But these limitations reflect wider concerns about the robustness of the data collected about child protection issues. As researchers have pointed out for years now, we simply do not collect data that can help us understand the contexts in which children experience harms and, crucially, monitor whether and how these harms are being affected by government policies. For example, while our research highlights the links between poverty and a child's chances of being subject to a child protection intervention, we were not able to establish this link using the data currently being gathered by the Department for Education. Well-informed discussions about the prevalence of child harms are long overdue and should not be restricted to gathering data on any one aspect of identity. Brigid Featherstone Professor emerita, University of Huddersfield I understand Zara Mohammed's concern, but this is not about scapegoating the Pakistani community, it is about seeking to understand why groups of men saw fit to abuse young girls (Dear Yvette Cooper, let the Casey review lead to justice – not the scapegoating of British Pakistani culture, 17 June). It is essential to be honest in investigating whether cultural perceptions in some ethnic male groups mean that they are more predisposed to see young girls as acceptable targets. It is no different from asking if particular groups of young males have misogynistic views and investigating why that has come about. Only by being honest about the causes of abuse can we prevent it in the TweedLuton, Bedfordshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
BBC News
21-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Major Bristol care provider celebrates its 100th birthday
A major care provider has marked its 100th birthday with a large garden of St Monica Trust's villages and care homes celebrated with cream cakes, strawberries and glasses of Pimm's, as well as music from brass quintet and poetry party was held at Cote Lane Retirement Village in Westbury on Trym, where the charity opened its doors in June Williams, head of the trust, which has care homes across Bristol and North Somerset, praised the residents, saying: "They volunteer in the organisation, they run the shops, they're even brewing their own beer at the moment!" He said the trust "believe in contribution" and "want to enable people to flourish by allowing them to develop relationships".VIP attendees at the summer party – where temperatures hit 30C – included the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Peaches Golding. Monica Carp, who has lived at Cote Lane for almost 20 years, spoke about the benefits of activities at the trust."You get what you give in," she said. "You can do what you like or you can help to organise events. I organised a craft group which I called 'pin and needles'."The charitable foundation works with older people across the west of England to improve their quality of life.
