Discharge of patients into care homes without testing ‘unlawful’, rules High Court

Two women whose fathers died from Covid-19 have won a High Court challenge against the Government over policies on discharging patients to care homes at the outset of the pandemic.

Cathy Gardner, whose father Michael Gibson died, and Fay Harris, whose father Donald died, partially succeeded in their claims against the then health secretary and Public Health England.

In a ruling on Wednesday, Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Garnham concluded that policies contained in documents released in March and early April 2020 were unlawful because they failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission of the virus.

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