Matt Hancock is really struggling to get his words out today!

[Teddypops]

Gosh he is struggling. Forgot the name of one of the advisers.

To me he looks like a man doing his best under an enormous amount of pressure, in many ways we are the blind leading the blind through a foreign land, who else would do a better job, there is no clear or obvious way through this territory instead a great deal of of 'wait and see' which is very uncomfortable when you are in a situation which feels unsustainable
We will come up with new ways of doing things

£15 million and the directors were paid
And yet the staff are on a minimum wage in dangerous conditions
When all this is over I wonder what will happen with care homes? Right now they might as well be death camps😳

That seems unlikely given that the ONS figures show that the number of excess deaths is actually more than the number of deaths attributed to Covid. I think we have to assume that at least a portion of the “official” figures are people who would have died anyway (lots of very ill, very elderly people) so why are there so many excess deaths? Lots of people have been confidently saying for weeks that they were waiting for excess death figures because they were confident that, actually, the overall death rate would be broadly the same, or possibly lower, than at the same time last year because so many of the victims were dying with Covid rather than of Covid. I must admit, even I though the excess deaths number would be lower than the official Covid numbers, partly because lockdown would reduce transmission of other diseases and because at least some of the “Covid” victims would have died anyway of other health problems.

It's possible that many people are dying sooner that they would given their underlying condition, which would mean overall deaths might be lower than average in the year or so after the virus subsides. But obviously we won't know that for a long time.

“ who else would do a better job,”

He could have stuck with herd immunity and not made promises he can’t keep.

The chickens are coming home to roost and he’s a man under pressure.

I can see No.10 scapegoating him.

I've just watched this on iplayer. I think he's genuinely upset and fighting it on camera. He was fine right up until the point when he announced the daily deaths toll. Lost it a bit from there then got back on track and then wobbled near the end.
Politics aside I think he was just human tbh and rather that than not.

I haven't seen the Q and A though.

Maybe it’s because of this

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/british-diplomat-admits-political-decision-not-join-eu-bulk-buy-schemes-not-e-mail-error-1-6617185

“Brexit Before Breathing”

U.K. Govt failed to participate in billion pound EU PPE procurement scheme due to “political reasons”
IE the reason our NHS is short of PPE is because of Brexit ideology and pig headedness of this govt refusing to join EU PPE procurement.

Oh yes and then continuously lying about it.

Why aren't questions being asked about the treatment of people in care homes? Are people who live there being given medical treatment or taken into hospital or are they just left there to die? How many would have survived this had they been given medical treatment? If they are just being left in care homes, without treatment, then that is shocking. Are they at least being kept comfortable?

Why aren't the.journalists asking questions about this?

He's a criminal and in any decently run society he'd be arrested.

Oh don't get me wrong, when I said 'who could have done a better job'? - I'm no Matt Hancock fan. I'm no fan of any of them.

The 100,000 ppe target? Oh purlease. He went from practically nothing to announcing his target was 100,000.

I watched the piers Morgan clip, and whilst I don't like him either, his point about government ' hiding behind science' is valid. There was a lack of common sense. And Leadership.

Why didn't they react quicker? In the early stages? Italy was in lockdown, but they kept the schools open, said that mass gatherings were ok; football in Liverpool and concerts?

Even now people being allowed into our airports with no testing?

Barely any testing being done at all.

Missed out on Ppe due to Brexit and emails? Is that really true. It can't be? Can it? If so, idiots.

When this is over, questions should be asked. I'm sure it could've been handled better.

I totally agree that care homes should source and pay for their own ppe. As much as the government have got things wrong etc I don't see why they should help out this sector ; the homes are privately owned and it's up to their owners and managers to pay for the equipment for the staff. Care homes should be run and owned by councils and dementia residents shouldn't be charged such huge fees, but I know that will never happen as people with dementia are treated as second class citizens or cash cows unfortunately. I feel so sorry for the staff who work there not having the right equipment.

@The80sweregreat, totally agree with you.

If they are just being left in care homes, without treatment, then that is shocking. Are they at least being kept comfortable?

It’s not shocking, it’s kindness. Hospitals are horrible places at the best of times when you’re old. Being looked after by people you know and have a bond with in your own space is much better. You have to be very frail to live in a care home, it’s very unlikely you’d survive this virus and invasive treatment would be very distressing to no great effect.

@The80sweregreat

This is a national, indeed an international crisis, care home staff move about, go home, visit community patients, what would you suggest we do to care home owners if they can't or won't get the PPE their staff need? and many suppliers have been told to only supply PHE !

"Helping out" this sector means helping out us all and reducing infection for all of us.

It is a national scandal that Hancock was so very late in recognising the issues with care homes and their staff, PHE guidance was that there was no need to take any precautions, with staff or residents 9up til 31/3)

With a different Govt we might get the much needed reforms to the care sector you suggest but that can't happen now.

I said on here yesterday that I thought he had heard about the care home figures deaths but now think he had heard about what the FT are publishing today:

www.ft.com/content/67e6a4ee-3d05-43bc-ba03-e239799fa6ab

They have made it free to read, headline is that they are suggesting the death toll is double the official figure .

If they are just being left in care homes, without treatment, then that is shocking. Are they at least being kept comfortable?

I understand that very frail people wouldn't go to Hospital normally but GPs aren't going into care homes, so who is administering the drugs for end of life care or drugs for life saving treatment, such as AB's for chest infections, where appropriate.

Also, not all care home residents are very frail, might be true of nursing homes but people in residential homes are often quite active, needing just a small amount of help.

people in residential homes are often quite active, needing just a small amount of help

Not in my experience. You have to be very frail to qualify for local authority funding and self funders go there as a last resort.

I do help out my dads care home : he is self funding and paying a fortune.
I suppose it's just my axe to grind that he is treated as a second class citizen because he has dementia. I don't mind donating money to them for the tech and cakes and whatever else they want money for but Ppe should come out of the care home profits , not the taxpayers who already have to pay for Ppe for the nhs staff which is how it's should be.
It's the staff I do feel so sorry for. Their owners and managers should treat them much better.

There are different types of care home though aren't there, you've those for folk with moderate to profound medical needs and others that are supporting people who are largely independent and in good health. The latter will be largely private.

If you’re healthy and largely independent the last place you want to be is a care home. Let alone pay £50k a year for it. They’re places of last resort.

jasjas1973

Exactly. Who decided that people in care homes simply don't qualify for medical treatment - not even palliative care. How are they being kept comfortable and who is deciding if they have COVID19? Maybe they've got a bacterial infection, or heart failure that could be treated. Even if they have COVID19 the death rate in the over 80s is only something like 15% so who has taken the decision to just leave them to die? Maybe oxygen and supportive care would be enough to help some of them.

What palliative care are these people getting?

Someone needs to be asking questions about this.

@jasjas1973 my Nan got a doctor visiting at the start of all of this when she had a cough??? and got antibiotics for a chest infection. Whether it is the same now who knows (first week of lockdown)

@LockdownLucy yes I agree. My Nan is in a private residential village. The number of care visits has gone down and are much quicker than they were. They are no longer allowed to go down for communal meals and are having them delivered

My Dad's care home went into lockdown on the 12th March. They obviously had some inside knowledge I think!