Coronavirus: Daughter suing government for care home deaths told legal action is not in public interest

The daughter of man who died of suspected COVID-19 in a care home, has been told legal action she is taking, which accuses the government of exposing care home residents to serious harm, is not in the public interest.

Dr Cathy Gardner, whose 88-year-old father Michael Gibson died on 3 April at the Cherwood House Care Centre in Oxfordshire, says she has received a “shameful” reply from Health Secretary Matt Hancock and NHS bosses, after she instructed her lawyers to write to them alleging they unlawfully put care home residents’ lives at risk.

Lawyers acting for NHS England have urged the courts to dismiss the legal challenge because the public interest is not served by 'diverting NHS England’s attention and resources from the management of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 crisis to expensive and time-consuming high court litigation'.

Plight of residents and staff in care homes ‘given low priority’

Dr Gardner’s lawyers Sinclairslaw filed a legal claim at the High Court and sent Matt Hancock a pre-action letter at the start of June, calling for him to take back his claim that he provided a “protective ring” around care homes.

More than 16,000 people have died of COVID-19 in care homes. Dr Gardner's lawyers asked Matt Hancock, Public Health England and NHS England to accept responsibility for unlawful conduct which she alleges contributed to the deaths of her father, patients, NHS and care workers.

The government denies Dr Gardner’s claim that it breached the European convention on human rights to manage risks posed by the virus to care home staff and residents.

The government also told Dr Gardner’s legal team, it was right to change policies as new information emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlighting the written responses of the Health Secretary, Public Health England and NHS England to her legal team, Dr Gardner said: “They dispute that I have legal standing to bring my claim, argue that the claim is brought too late and – most surprisingly of all – assert that it is not in the public interest for my claim to be heard.

'Shameful'

“This is a shameful reply when thousands of very vulnerable people have lost their lives, leaving me and many others bereaved. I have therefore instructed my solicitors to proceed with the litigation.

“I am bringing this case now so that the plight of residents and staff in care homes is not allowed to be given low priority again.”

Dr Gardner’s father, who had advanced Alzheimer’s Disease first became ill on 14 March. His death certificate stated 'COVID probable'.

Dr Gardner has hit back at the government’s response for giving “no acknowledgement of any responsibility” and no explanation as to why hospitals were advised to discharge patients into care homes without testing or measures to protect vulnerable residents.

“My solicitors requested an explanation as to what policies were actually put in place to ensure ‘a protective ring’ was cast around care homes right from the start, as Matt Hancock has alleged. The Department of Health and Social Care completely failed to answer that question."

In its response, the government stated it took ‘extensive measures to protect the people who live and work in care homes in response to the risks posed by COVID-19’.

Talking about her father, Dr Gardner said: “The care home should have been a safe place, instead he was put at risk because of a government decision to discharge patients from hospitals with no regard for coronavirus infection risk."

Dr Cathy, who has formally begun legal action following receipt of the government's written response to her lawyers, said: "I am taking on the government, who seem determined to avoid responsibility".

Over £56,000 raised by public so far to cover legal action

To launch her legal challenge, Dr Gardner set up a crowdfunding page on CrowdJustice. Her crowdfunding page has raised over £56,000 to date (22 June), following donations from over 2,000 people.

Dr Gardner said: “Please continue to donate and share the details with as many people as you can”.

Since launching the page, Dr Gardner has been contacted by families whose loved ones have died of COVID-19 in care homes.

“We could be looking at 22,000 people who could have died in care homes and that’s a lot of families and also care home workers have died so this is for their families as well.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has said it cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

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