Former health secretary Matt Hancock has defended the controversial policy of discharging hospital patients into care homes during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, telling the UK Covid-19 Inquiry it was "the least-worst decision" at the time, despite the devastating death toll.
The policy, implemented in early 2020, saw patients rapidly moved from hospitals to care facilities in an effort to free up beds and prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed as the virus spread.
