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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

Ministers missed chances to prepare social care for a pandemic, review finds

Representatives of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice at the Covid Memorial Wall
Deborah Doyle, left, with fellow representatives Lobby Akinnola, Hannah Brady, Fran Hall, Jo Goodman and Charlie Williams from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice at the Covid Memorial Wall. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Distress and heartbreak for millions could have been avoided if the government had not missed opportunities to prepare social care for a pandemic, according to a big investigation into how the first wave of Covid hit care homes.

A review of events in spring 2020, when almost 20,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales, found it was the result of “letting one of our most important public services languish in constant crisis for years”.

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