Piers Morgan labels Boris Johnson 'disgusting' over comments on care homes

Piers Morgan slammed Boris Johnson for playing the "blame game" as he labelled the Prime Minister "disgusting" over comments he made about care homes' handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Johnson sparked furious backlash over his comments which appeared to cast some blame on care homes as they responded to the Covid-19 crisis.

When asked what he made of Sir Simon Stevens’ wish to see plans to adequately fund the adult social care sector within a year, Mr Johnson said: “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time.

“Most important is to fund them properly… but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long term is properly organised and supported.”

Mr Morgan hit back at Mr Johnson on Good Morning Britain, saying it was "honestly disgusting" that Mr Johnson and other ministers were playing the "blame game" by shifting the narrative away from themselves.

"Clap for carers and then blame them for over 20,000 deaths in care homes which came about because the British Government sent over 25,000 elderly people out of hospitals in the space of just a couple of weeks back into care homes without testing them for Covid," said Mr Morgan.

"So they've been in hospitals with loads of Covid around, and many of them had Covid, and were put back into the care homes creating a second wave of the epidemic.

Clap for Carers: Thursday, May 21

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"And Boris Johnson now thinks it's the right time to blame care homes for what he did."

He added that the care homes had "no PPE to protect them" and many workers lost their lives as a result.

His comments came as Mr Morgan's co-presenter Susanna Reid read out a message from an unnamed member of the public who reached out to Ms Reid on Twitter.

They said: "As a worker in a care home that has kept everyone alive throughout the crisis, the PM's comments are insulting and despicable.

"An attempt to shift the blame from his own incompetence and deliberate herd immunity policy.

"This is a smack in the face for every one of the people he cynically stood clapping for on No 10's doorstep."

Care providers also rejected the Prime Minister's comments as the National Care Forum urged Mr Johnson to start “turning the dial up on reform and down on blame”.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) said the vast majority of providers had “done their absolute best in the face of slow and conflicting advice”.

ICG chairman Mike Padgham said: “We should not be getting into the blame game and it is wrong to criticise care and nursing homes at this time.

“It is worth remembering that in February the Government agency Public Health England told homes it was ‘very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected’ and that homes didn’t need to do anything differently.

“It was many weeks later, after most homes had already put themselves into lockdown, that the advice changed.”

Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall said: “There have been 30,000 excess deaths in care homes and at least 20,000 of these caused by Covid-19.

“25,000 elderly people were discharged from hospitals to care homes without any tests whatsoever and frontline care workers were left without vital PPE.

“Staff who have gone the extra mile to care for elderly people, and experienced things the rest of us can only imagine, will be appalled to hear the Prime Minister’s comments.

“Boris Johnson should be taking responsibility for his actions and fixing the crisis in social care, not blaming care homes for this Government’s mistakes.”

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