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Jane Lethbridge, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Public Services International Research Unit, University of Greenwich

How did the social care system end up in crisis and how can it be fixed? Expert Q&A

Shutterstock/MandyGodbehear

The fragility of the social care system was utterly exposed by COVID. The decision to discharge elderly people into care homes in the early days of the pandemic is seen by many as one of its biggest scandals – but delays in making vital resources such as testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) available to staff also had a huge impact.

More than 40,000 people are thought to have died in care homes in England and Wales due to COVID, with many harrowing accounts of residents being “locked away”, or dying alone with families forced to stand outside.

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