Liz Kendall – 2020 Comments on Public Accounts Committee Report

The comments made by Liz Kendall, the Shadow Social Care Minister, on 29 July 2020.

This report confirms what we have known for a long while – that the Government was too slow to act to protect older and disabled people, and that a series of mistakes were made despite clear warnings from what was happening in other countries and the experiences of those on the frontline.

Staff were left without vital protective equipment, thousands of older people were discharged from hospitals to care homes without tests, and ministers failed to ensure social care was given the focus and grip it needed to get through this crisis.

The Government must learn from its mistakes to ensure the tragedy of Covid-19 in care homes is never repeated. They must also put in place the long term reforms families desperately need to ensure a social care system that is fit for the future.