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A nurse in PPE
LABOUR and Unite have called for an inquiry into the government’s handling of care homes during the pandemic after a damning report labelled it “reckless” and “at times negligent.”
The Commons public accounts committee report (PAC), published today, said that advising hospitals to transfer around 25,000 patients to care homes to free up beds without testing them for coronavirus was an “appalling” policy error.
The report added that it was “concerned” that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had continued with the policy “even once it was clear there was an emerging problem.”
With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
