I WAS dismayed to hear the comments by Boris Johnson saying that care homes basically did not care about their residents during this Covid-19 crisis and did not follow the rules.

Boris Johnson’s government failed to protect citizens by not taking control of what was happening in the social care sector.

On 17th March, it was announced that some 25,000 in-patients would be released from hospital into care homes without being tested. People in care homes are the most vulnerable elderly, most having an underlying condition. This was a cruel decision. We now know that one in three care homes were infected and between 15,000 and 22,000 older people have died so far in care homes.

The UK is without a proper social care system that would protect our elderly population. Funding for social care has been reduced year on year, falling by 49 per cent between 2010-11 and 2017-18.

The fragmentation of residential care was ideological, leaving 84 per cent of care homes in the private sector. The staff are hard working and dedicated but suffer from a culture of low pay, zero hours contracts and often have have to work in more than one home to make ends meet. It is not their fault that the care sector has been neglected for so long.

It is time for government to legislate for a publicly funded and run integrated adult health and care system.

The profile of caring for the elderly must be raised and given high priority in government rather than disparaging those who do care under such tragic conditions.

Ruth Potter

Chaucer Street, York