Sorrowful daughters begin legal battle with government over coronavirus in long-term care facility

Two sorrowful daughters are behind a legal challenge that could force the government to defend the treatment of care facilities during a pandemic.

A judge in the High Court yesterday ruled in favor of Dr. Kathy Gardner and Faye Harris, granting full hearings to the Government, NHS England, and the United Kingdom National Health Service.

Dr. Gardner has accused the government of violating the human rights of care home residents, including his 88-year-old father Michael Gibson.

Dr. Gardner, a virologist, was forced to say goodbye to him through the window of the Charwood House Care Center in Oxfordshire.

Harris, 57, joined the court battle after his 89-year-old father, former British Marine Don, died in May with 24 residents of a nursing home in Hampshire.

Dr. Gardner argued that an important decision led to Covid-19’s “shocking deaths” of 20,000 caregiver residents between March and June.

Government attorneys urged judges to dismiss the case, arguing that there was no “indisputable basis” to conclude that these decisions were not “reasonable.”

In a written document to the court, Dr. Gardner and Ms. Harris’ barrister Jason Koppel, QC, said: Recent catastrophic policy failure. “

The first-stage victory paves the way for a judicial review that could have a significant impact on the families of at least 30,000 people who died in Covid’s care facility this year.

The government said the purpose of the “discharge requirements” introduced in March was to “ensure medically healthy people” to be discharged to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed.

Dr. Gardner and Ms. Harris said they were appalled by Health Minister Matt Hancock’s claim that a “protection ring” had been placed around the care facility.

Dr. Gardner’s lawyer claimed that before his father died, the house was pressured to accept inpatients who tested positive but were “without temperature for 72 hours.”

They said Gibson, a registrar of birth, marriage, and death, was ready to catch Covid, even though he never left home.

A lawsuit was filed in the High Court in June accusing the government of unlawfully exposing residents of nursing homes to significant risks.

Dr. Gardner, who is also the chairman of the East Devon District Council, said the death of his father on April 3 was part of “national shame” and that residents and staff of long-term care facilities were affected by mishandling by the government. , I believe that all individuals, including family members, were the case. crisis.

Dr. Gardner said: “In the worst case, the government has adopted the policy that caused the deaths of the most vulnerable people in our society.

“It was completely unacceptable that this happened and that liability was avoided.”

Her father’s death certificate said “probably Covid” because he died before he was tested.

Ms. Harris planned to take her father, Don, on a sailing trip to Portsmouth Harbor to celebrate her 90th birthday last month.

She found a suitable boat to carry her wheelchair, so he could see again from the sea the harbor where he was stationed.

But on May 1, Harris died after an outbreak at Alton’s Marfield Care Home. Coronavirus.. The Hampshire County Council said a quarter of the 24 deaths that occurred there during this period were covid-related, but could have been more.

Harris said: “Physically my dad was healthy and well.

“He always had a smile on his face. When we left him, he was mobile.

“He was a strong fighter. He had Alzheimer’s disease and had care problems, but he overcame them all.

“He shouldn’t have died, he should have been on that birthday trip.”

Judge Linden ruled that Dr. Gardner’s proceedings were “uncontroversial,” despite the government, NHS England, and the United Kingdom National Health Service opposed the proceedings at the distance hearing yesterday.

“I believe it is in the interest of justice to hear the allegations,” the judge said.

In writing, Coppel QC argued: “The defendant has implemented a policy that puts vulnerable caregiver residents, including the plaintiff’s father, at risk of death or serious illness from Covid.

“In particular, in March 2020, Defendant developed and applied a national policy to discharge patients directly from hospitals to long-term care facilities without Covid testing or quarantine.”

The lack of “appropriate infection control systems, including personal protective equipment,” “resulted in transfer patients disseminating Covid infections within a population of vulnerable long-term care facilities.”

Sir James Eadie QC, a barrister for the government and PHE, claimed to have failed accordingly. “We considered the best way to protect it throughout the period of the problem.
Elderly people inside and outside the long-term care facility.

“It involved making a series of decisions based on expert scientific advice in areas where science is uncertain and evolving.

“There is no controversial basis for concluding that these judgments are outside the scope of reasonable action.”