Covid care home discharge policy was unlawful

We know now, following the recent ruling in the High Court, that the government acted unlawfully by discharging untested hospital patients into care homes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case was brought by Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris whose fathers both died after testing. Speaking about the deaths of Michael Gibson and Don Harris and the recent important court ruling Priya Singh (Senior Associate in Medical Negligence) said:

“It is incomprehensible why a vulnerable person would be discharged into the company of those equally vulnerable without ensuring that they did not have such an infectious disease as Covid. This approach cannot possibly help the NHS to free beds instead, the only thing it accomplished was to increase the risk to life and ultimately unnecessary deaths. So many lessons need and must be learned from what appeared to be a futile planning exercise which did so very little to actually protect our most vulnerable.”

Priya Singh and Nina Ali (Partner specialising in medical negligence) have successfully represented a number of families with loved ones who have been affected during the pandemic. They are both specialist lawyers dedicated to helping the vulnerable and others in society who have received negligent care from our institutions and hospitals.

In addition to handling care home claims Nina and Priya continue to support 68 families in Essex who are seeking to convert the current Independent Inquiry into Essex Mental Health Services into a full Statutory Public Inquiry.