We must ensure these mistakes are not repeated and that care homes are never again treated as an afterthought in pandemic planning.”
The APPG on coronavirus is conducting a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic.
It has so far held more than 20 hearings and made over 40 recommendations.
The group is made up of 25 MPs and members of the House of Lords and is chaired by Oxford West Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran.
Last week, it wrote to the prime minister calling for the chairman of the Covid inquiry to be picked on a cross-party basis, rather than being “hand-picked” by the government.
Colleagues of Matt Hancock have flocked to his defence as the Health Secretary came under sustained pressure from the social care industry over the decision to discharge people from hospital into care homes at the start of the pandemic without a coronavirus test.
Mr Hancock told a Downing Street briefing on Thursday that it was not possible to test everyone being sent from hospitals into care homes when coronavirus emerged because the capacity was not available.
And his comments came a day after the Prime Minister’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings told MPs that Government claims about putting a shield around care homes were “complete nonsense”.
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Dr Dan Poulter wants an immediate inquiry into how the government handled care homes during the first lockdown last year.
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