The sixth report of the UK Covid inquiry has concluded that shortcomings in the government's pandemic response allowed the coronavirus to "spread like wildfire" through care homes, the inquiry said.
The report singled out two key failings: insufficient supplies and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) for care staff, and the approach taken to discharging patients from hospitals into care settings. It criticised how those decisions and operational arrangements left care home residents exposed to infection.
Inquiry investigators said the combination of limited PPE and the movement of patients from hospital to care homes without adequate infection control measures created conditions that facilitated rapid transmission. The report set these findings within the broader review of the government's handling of the pandemic.
This publication is the sixth instalment in the inquiry's ongoing examination of the UK's pandemic response. The inquiry's work has repeatedly examined the interplay between central government policy, health services and social care providers during the crisis.
The report's findings add to a sequence of critical assessments by the inquiry as it continues to analyse evidence and issue recommendations. Ministers and departments previously implicated by inquiry reports have been asked to respond to its conclusions.