Warning to government – don’t leave legal action as only avenue for bereaved families to get answers 

Plaid Cymru calls for certainty that bereaved families in Wales will get same answers that England have now had through High Court ruling

Leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price has called for the Welsh Government to promise that Covid bereaved families in Wales will get that same level of “forensic and detailed analysis” afforded to families in England via the recent High Court ruling.

Last week the High Court ruled that the UK Government acted unlawfully by discharging untested hospital patients into care homes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in England.

During the early stages of the pandemic, it had been the Welsh Government policy to refuse tests to care homes where residents were not displaying coronavirus symptoms. Crucially, Welsh Government policy at this time did not require a test for all of those coming from hospital into care homes.

The matter was raised repeatedly by Plaid Cymru’s Delyth Jewell as early as 29 April 2020, and in May 2020, Plaid Cymru called for the Health Minister to apologise for testing failures in care homes that likely led to a “huge number” of deaths.

In Questions to the First Minister, Adam Price asked “can we be sure that we will get the level of focus on the decisions made in Wales with the UK inquiry?”

Mr Price warned that without this assurance, and without a Wales-specific COVID inquiry, then the only option available to families to get the “same level of forensic and exhaustive analysis” will be to take similar legal action to those in England.

In response, the First Minister Mark Drakeford admitted it was “inescapable” that the UK inquiry will focus on this “issue”.

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price MS said,

“The crux of the issue here is whether the terms of reference of the UK inquiry will include answering the question as to whether the policy in relation to the discharge of patients into care homes in Wales was lawful.

“The First Minister acknowledges the level of exhaustive analysis and evidence that went into that specific question that the families in England have now had through the High Court. Welsh Government must now promise that the bereaved families in Wales will get that same level of forensic and detailed analysis.

“If it does not, then the only option available to the bereaved families will be to go down the legal avenue as well.  The bereaved families in Wales deserve the kind of certainty that has been now laid by the High Court in relation to England.”