(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Covid Inquiry: Welsh government said more action on pandemic in care homes would not ‘add value’ [1] [] Date: 2024-02 The Welsh government rejected calls to do more to tackle coronavirus cases in care homes because it didn’t think it would “add value”, the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry has heard. The early days of the pandemic were particularly dangerous for care homes residents, who were among the most vulnerable to the disease. But today’s hearing in Cardiff heard how Julie Morgan, Wales’ deputy minister for health and social services, said she was “not convinced” by calls for a detailed plan to address this. There were 42,341 deaths in care homes in England and Wales that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate in the first year of the pandemic. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now Heléna Herklots, the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, told the hearing she had been “angered” by the devolved administration’s failure to follow her recommendation to put a plan for care homes in place. Herklots said she had written to Morgan in April 2020 to detail the anxieties of care home staff and residents, particularly over visiting guidelines and access to PPE (personal protective equipment). But rather than heed her calls for “urgent action”, Morgan wrote back to say she was “not convinced that an additional plan of action over and above [arrangements already in place] will add value here”. Recalling the frustration she felt at this response, Herklots said: “The notion that working on an action plan, producing an action plan, bringing the work together, would add no value, at a time when people were dying in care homes and their families were distraught… I just thought the response was inadequate.” The inquiry restarted in Cardiff yesterday, kicking off its latest module focussing on the Welsh government’s response to the pandemic. Explaining her demand for more efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus in care homes, Herklots, who was previously the chief executive of Carers UK, said: “I was struggling to see how the work to help older people living in care homes, and those working in them, was being led and coordinated. “If I was struggling to see it, it was going to be even more difficult for people in care homes and families and friends to actually see what was happening.” In her witness statement, Herklots also raised concerns about a lack of equality assessments considering the needs of older people. Overlooked expertise The Children’s Commissioner for Wales also told today’s hearing how, like Herklots, her expertise was not utilised by ministers during Covid, despite her being on the devolved administration’s payroll. Speaking to the inquiry after the conclusion of Herklots’ evidence, Sally Holland claimed she had been consulted on plans for school closures only once during the pandemic. This was ahead of the Welsh ‘firebreak’ lockdown initiated on 23 October 2020. She also gave an insight into tensions over closures of education settings while bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen. Recalling conversations with an ‘advisory board’ of 30 young people, Holland said: “They had such a strong sense of what was fair. “They thought there should be measure to support the whole population, but they also had a sense of injustice where they felt there were anomalies, perhaps related to economic necessities.” Earlier in the day, Elizabeth Grant of the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru (CBFJC) group accused the Welsh government of being “caught with their trousers down” when the pandemic hit. The inquiry continues. openDemocracy is fundraising to pay reporters to cover every day of the public hearings. Please support us by donating here. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/covid-19-inquiry-wales-cymru-care-homes-pandemic-julie-morgan/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/