Yahoo News Boris Johnson blames care home owners for deaths from coronavirus
Boris Johnson is under fire after appearing to blame care home owners for the huge death toll from coronavirus in their properties.
“We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have,” the prime minister claimed – after being asked about the reasons for almost 20,000 fatalities.
But Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, said: “Care providers have moved to adopt these new procedures consistently, at pace and with integrity.”
And Mike Padgham, head of the Independent Care Group (ICG), said: “We should not be getting into the blame game and it is wrong to criticise care and nursing homes at this time.”
More than half of care homes in England have been hit by Covid-19, according to official estimates, with one in five residents infected and 7 per cent of staff.
Anger has grown over the decision to discharge 25,000 hospital patients who had not been tested, fuelled by health secretary Matt Hancock’s notorious claim to have “thrown a protective ring” around them.
But, questioned in Goole, in East Yorkshire, the prime minister pointed to poor practices, saying: “One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care.
“We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we're learning lessons the whole time.
“Most important is to fund them properly... but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long-term is properly organised and supported.”
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