Catching up with a scathing PAC report into Covid and social care: “Years of inattention, funding cuts and delayed reforms have been compounded by the Govt’s slow, inconsistent and, at times, negligent approach to giving the sector the support it needed during the pandemic.” https://twitter.com/commonspac/status/1288382496464351235

Committee says lack of clarity as to who was responsible for what and a lack of consistent and clear guidance had been a profound problem.

PAC report says that discharging patients from hospital into homes without Covid testing was “an appalling error.” Says we still don’t know how many of the 25000 discharged from hospital into homes had Covid and we never will.

PAC says guidance on PPE was changed by govt forty times during the pandemic, without consulting providers: "After squandering the opp to build up supplies in January/February, it remains to be seen whether DHSC can meet its intention to have a 90-day stockpile."

Committee says that govt/care companies must look after staff better: "Failure to protect staff by providing adequate PPE has impacted morale and confidence, while a lack of timely testing, until after the pandemic had passed its first peak, led to increased stress and absence."

PAC says that until Lord Deighton was appointed in mid-April (by which time we were past the peak) "no one took the lead in making sure there was sufficient PPE." Buck was passed between NHS/DHSC/PHE. A dog's breakfast, basically.