Families of care home residents who died during the coronavirus pandemic are preparing for possible legal action against the Government and individual homes, lawyers say.
The law firm of Leigh Day said it is the Minister of HealthUK Health Security Agency and a number of care homes on behalf of 22 people who each have one or more relatives who have died – some in hospital but the majority in care homes.
These took place at the start of the pandemic, when patients were rapidly transferred from hospitals to care homes, it said.
However, there was no policy requiring patients to be tested before admission or to isolate asymptomatic patients until mid-April.
The government said it had tried to protect care home residents “based on the best information available at the time”.
All claims will be filed in negligence, Leigh Day said, with the investigation only recently launched.
It follows one Supreme Court ruling in April this year on a case brought by two women – Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris – whose fathers died of Covid-19.
The judges ruled that the policies in documents released in March and early April 2020 were illegal because they failed to take into account the risk to elderly and frail residents of asymptomatic transmission of the virus.
The families involved in the latest action are asking for the three-year statute of limitations under which they can file a claim to be extended until December 1, 2023.
This would allow lawyers to fully investigate and rely on evidence coming to light during the second module of the coronavirus investigation, which will scrutinize political decisions and actions in the early stages of the pandemic.
Formal evidence hearings for this part of the investigation will be held in the summer.
Leigh Day partner Emma Jones said: “We have notified the Department of Health, the Health Security Agency and the individual agencies that these legal actions are on track.
“At this stage, we want to agree on an extension of the deadline for making a claim in court, to give the families space to hear the crucial evidence that will be given during the UK Covid-19 inquiry.
“People those who have lost loved ones passionately feel that the government should be held accountable for the fatal decisions made in the early days of the pandemic.
“When the Covid investigation is over, the families we represent will want justice for the mothers and fathers they have lost, and remember, lost without even being able to say goodbye.”
Those represented by Leigh Day include Kim Nottage of Bethnal Green, whose mother Maureen died aged 86 at Aspen Court, a care home run by HC-One in Poplar, London; and John Orford, from St Helens, Merseyside, whose 92-year-old father Ronald died after contracting Covid at Broadoak Manor, an HC-One care home in St Helens, the law firm said.
It said anyone who thinks they have a case should get in touch.
Leigh Day lawyer Beatrice Morgan added: “Policies and guidelines were issued encouraging the movement of patients from hospitals to care homes, but did not take into account the risk of asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 to those most vulnerable to the virus.
“Instead of ensuring residents were protected, government decrees allowed the deadly virus to spread like wildfire through care homes across the country.
“The advice was changed much too late. It is impossible to know how many lives have been lost as a result.”
A government spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
“During the pandemic, our goal was to protect the public from the threat to life and health posed by Covid, and we specifically sought to protect care home residents based on the best information available at the time.
“The court recognized that this was a very difficult decision at the start of the pandemic, the evidence of asymptomatic transmission was uncertain and we had to act immediately to health service to prevent it from being flooded.
“The court acknowledged that we made every effort to increase testing capacity.”