A CARE HOME boss has revealed that people with Covid-19 were allowed in to care homes at the peak of the pandemic due to a lack of testing.

Charles Taylor, chair of Oxfordshire Care Homes Association – a non-profit organisation that lobbies for over half the care homes in the county – said he wished the Health Secretary had been ‘more honest’ about how the Government handled the Covid crisis in care homes.

The statement comes after Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s former chief advisor, claimed Matt Hancock had said people would be tested in hospital before being sent to care homes.

Mr Hancock has denied these claims and says it was clear that it would take time to build in a testing capacity.

Last month it was revealed that Oxfordshire was ranked the third worst for bed blocking in all of England in January, coming at 146 out of 149 councils.

Mr Taylor said: “To say people definitely did not have Covid and bring it to care homes did not ring true.

“People were not maliciously trying to push Covid positive people into care homes, but the hospital system does not work perfectly.

“Oxfordshire is one of the worst places for delayed transfers of care, known as bed blocking, and so has always been pushing people of out hospitals too quickly and not necessarily with due diligence.”

He explained: “When Covid hit, if the person did not have a cough or a fever, they could come back to the care home – we did not know the virus could be asymptomatic back then.

“In hindsight, we know that there were people sent to care homes with Covid – we just did not have tests back then.”

The care home association chair added that while he feels the Health Secretary should take responsibility, it is up to the Prime Minister whether he should resign.

Mr Taylor added: “I would prefer for him to admit that things had gone wrong, and then let’s look at them openly, so next time, which scientists deem will happen again within the next decade, we don’t make the same mistake.

“They said there was a ring of steel around care homes – there wasn’t.

“We had to fend for our own in the first couple of months in the pandemic.”

When mask-wearing in care homes was made mandatory on April 14, Mr Taylor and his team had to move mountains to find the relevant PPE.

He said: “We had to call contact after contact after contact, and eventually we got some by paying £10,000.”

But it has not all been negative – Mr Taylor explains the Government’s vaccination programme has been a success.

“The vaccinations have been pretty amazing, and we hope that protects us moving forward.

“The fact they rolled them out so quickly and prioritised care homes and care home staff meant the bridges of trust that were under strain at the start of the pandemic were rebuilt.

“We are hoping for more honesty, more learning lessons."