Over the last six days the High Court reconvened to hear the judicial review of Gardner v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England) and Public Health England.

The Defendants were accused of failing their duties to ensure the safety of care home residents due to prioritising the objective of obtaining further capacity in hospitals by discharging patients into care homes. It was also alleged they continued to fail their duty by encouraging care homes to follow a symptoms based approach in their published guidance, even when the science suggested that asymptomatic individuals could transmit the disease. These decisions were made during a critical period and involved a known vulnerable population which resulted in excess of 20,000 deaths.

Continue reading “High Court reconvenes in landmark judicial review” →