A public inquiry into the UK's handling of the COVID-19 crisis is expected to begin within a year, and  it must not descend into sensationalist mud-slinging.  Care providers, alongside their colleagues in the NHS, have worked tirelessly at the frontline. Every death has been an absolute tragedy and the inquiry must go some way to help bring closure on the monumental grief and upset. 

We at Care England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, are confident in our assessment of the situation; care homes were simply not given the help and protection that they called for and needed in time.  The Government was blinkered, it had all its focus on the NHS and was blind to the plight of the rest of the nation which in turn wreaked havoc, destruction and sadly many avoidable deaths.