Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied rejecting expert advice on Covid tests for people entering care homes in England at the start of the pandemic.
According to Daily Telegraph WhatsApp messages, “everyone going into care homes should be tested” in April 2020.
Government guidance subsequently mandated tests only for those leaving the hospital.
A spokesman for Mr. Hancock said the communications had been “doctored”.
“These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false narrative that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing. This is completely incorrect, “In a statement, he said.
The Telegraph has obtained more than 100,000 communications sent between Mr. Hancock. And other ministers and officials at the height of the pandemic.
The texts were provided to the newspaper by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who has criticized lockdowns. Ms. Oakeshott received copies of the texts while assisting Mr. Hancock with the writing of Pandemic Diaries.
What are WhatsApp communications saying?
In one message, dated 14 April, Mr. Hancock reportedly informed aides that Prof Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, had conducted an “evidence review” and recommended, “testing of all going into care homes, and segregation whilst awaiting result”.
The message arrived one day before the release of Covid-19: Our Action Plan for Adult Social Care, a government document outlining plans to maintain the care system operational throughout the pandemic.
Mr. Hancock stated that the recommendation constituted a “good positive step” and that “we must put into the document.” To which an aide replied that he had sent the request “to action.”
Later on the same day, however, Mr. Hancock responded that he would prefer to “leave out” a commitment to test everyone entering care homes from the community and instead “commit to test & isolate EVERYONE entering care from the hospital.
“I do not believe the community commitment contributes anything to the discussion. And I believe it muddies the waters,” he said.
According to a spokesman for Mr. Hancock, this decision was made after he was informed at an operational meeting that it was impossible to test everyone accessing care homes.
When the care plan was published on 15 April, it said the government would “institute a policy of testing all residents before admission to care facilities”. But that that would “begin with all those being discharged from hospital”.
It said only that it would “proceed to” a policy of testing everyone entering care homes from the community.
From March 2020 to January 2022, there were 43,256 fatalities involving Covid-19 in care homes in England, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In 2020, Social Care Minister Helen Whately said “the significance of testing was never in doubt.” But “tough decisions” were needed to prioritise tests.
She cited an email from the time that stated the government should “move forward immediately” with hospitals testing patients being transferred to care homes and that the government should “strive for, as soon as capacity permits,” testing everyone entering care homes.
Labour’s social care minister, Liz Kendall, questioned why care home residents weren’t prioritised and accused Mr. Hancock of “rewriting history.”
A spokesman for Mr. Hancock stated that on 14 April, the then-health secretary “enthusiastically embraced” the advice of the chief medical officer that testing was necessary for individuals entering care homes.
“Later that day, he convened an operational meeting on delivering testing for care homes. Where he was informed it was not practicable to test everyone entering care homes; he accepted this,” he said.
“Matt concluded that the testing of people leaving hospitals for nursing homes should be prioritized due to the increased risk of transmission since it was not possible to mandate that everyone entering nursing homes be tested.”
When it comes to Covid, there is always the temptation to view things as either black or white. This story is a classic example of an ostensibly straightforward claim that cannot be answered simply. Prof. Sir Chris Whitty’s December pandemic study highlighted the UK’s test shortage.
By mid-April, only about 20,000 tests per day were being conducted. Testing was only done on symptomatic people in vulnerable settings like hospitals or care homes or key workers. An asymptomatic member of the community was unable to obtain diagnostic investigations.
That changed when care home residents were tested asymptomatically.
Asymptomatic testing was initially limited to hospital admittees due to their high risk. Eventually, community members admitted to a nursing home were tested, as testing capacity expanded swiftly in May.
However, earlier completion would have prevented tests from being made available to another important group.
This does not imply that there are no lessons to be learned or queries to be answered regarding this topic.
However, it demonstrates that very few Covid issues are as straightforward as they initially appear.
Mr. Hancock’s spokesman accused the Telegraph of doctoring the messages by omitting a line from a text message sent by one of his assistants that “demonstrates there was a meeting at which deliverability advice was given.”
The statement added: “By omitting this, the messages imply Matt merely overruled clinical advice. That is categorically inaccurate. He went as far and as quickly as possible to increase testing and save lives.”
The public inquiry, which is currently underway and will begin hearing testimony in June, was cited as the appropriate venue for analyzing what transpired during the pandemic.
Ms. Oakeshott says she disclosed the messages. Because the investigation will take years and we “cannot wait any longer for answers.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for the inquiry to report by the end of the year. With “no more delays” during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Rishi Sunak said the investigation was “the proper approach” and he would not comment on “isolated pieces of information.
“There is a proper process to these matters. It is an independent inquiry. It has the necessary resources. And it has the necessary authority, and we should all in this chamber allow it to carry out its duties “he said.
According to the Liberal Democrats, the messages “lay bare the chaos at the core of the government during the pandemic and the errors that led to the needless loss of countless lives.”
