The Minister acknowledged the difficulties of prioritization decisions at the start of the pandemic due to limited testing capacity. She explained that initial tests were prioritised for NHS frontline workers, hospital patients, and symptomatic care home residents. As testing capacity increased, so did the scope of testing. The Government established the largest testing network in Europe from a standing start, and this expansion was reflected in their adult social care plan published on 15 April.

The Minister concurred that they have a thorough public inquiry led by an experienced judge, and the Government is fully cooperating to ensure all necessary information is provided for a comprehensive investigation.

The hon. Lady is right about testing importance; she argued for it at the time as did I, Social Care Minister. Decisions were based on scientific advice given by experts. Millions of tests were distributed to care homes as capacity allowed. Guidance from 15 April stated that everyone discharged from hospital should be tested and isolated.

My hon. Friend is correct; the covid inquiry is the proper place to delve into these details. Decisions were made with limited information and uncertainty about the virus's impact. The inquiry timing is not within Ministers' control.

Difficult to comment on WhatsApp messages; I sought a test for my family member using the same app as everyone else.

My hon. Friend highlights challenges faced globally during the pandemic. Decisions were taken across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. If the Opposition had been in power, they would have done their best with limited information.

The hon. Lady seems unaware; public health and chief medical officer's advice were followed. As testing volumes increased, tests were used as advised.

My hon. Friend is right; it's important to reflect on pandemic decisions and prepare better for future pandemics. We regret every life lost but should look at these issues through the public inquiry.

Legal investigations have already taken place; bringing evidence together in a proper public inquiry is the best way to reach conclusions.

Absolutely; the Government are sharing huge quantities of evidence with the public inquiry to ensure best-informed conclusions.

Opposition Members seem not to have listened; public health advice was followed. Testing capacity was limited and only increased later as tests became available.

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about how we ramped up incredibly fast from a capacity of just 3,000 tests a day in March 2020, to more than 38,000 in mid-April, and more than 100,000 by May. We were then able to test many millions per week during the course of the pandemic.

The questions about the discharge policy have been interrogated on a number of occasions, including by Select Committees. The hon. Gentleman will well know that in general, and in the work that we are doing now on discharge, it is rarely good for somebody who is medically fit for discharge to continue to be in hospital beyond that time.

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the extraordinary things that were done during the pandemic. I do not think that the Government should seek to take credit for that; so many people worked incredibly hard.

I do not recognise the hon. Lady’s account at all. If she looks back at one of the legal cases that has looked into this question, she may find more accurate information about some of the conversations that went on behind the scenes.

My hon. Friend is 100% right. The context is absolutely important as part of this conversation. It was a global pandemic about which very little was known and about which we worked incredibly hard to find out more, and on which we continually made the best possible decisions in the light of the information that we had.

I know how strongly the hon. Member feels about this. Clearly, we are having ongoing conversations about visiting in care homes at the moment.

On the first point about the use of public health advice, the hon. Lady is wrong; all decisions were informed by public health advice.

As I have said, we are talking about, very sadly, people’s lives being lost—people’s mothers and fathers, grans and grandpas, sons and daughters, and sisters and brothers.

I do remember many of those SI debates. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that it was not political decision making as he suggests.

As the hon. Lady says, care workers were among those on the frontline during the pandemic and they had some incredibly difficult experiences. They took the risk of catching covid and, very sadly, some care workers and NHS workers were among those who lost their lives. Others have long covid. The question of compensation is currently with the Department for Work and Pensions. The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove), is in his place on the Front Bench: his Department is looking at this and will respond in due course.

I reiterate to those living in care homes and their loved ones and families that the Government took every step throughout the pandemic to protect those we knew were vulnerable. For instance, we prioritised testing with more than 180 million tests going to care homes during the pandemic, and we prioritised vaccinations. I remember talking to residents in care homes at the time, and vaccination was a huge moment for them because it was the first time they had felt really protected from that cruel virus. I know how hard it was for families that they could not see loved ones in care homes, and that was one reason we put out guidance about visiting, saying that if someone was close to end of life they should be able to receive visitors. I will continue to do my utmost as Minister for Social Care to make sure that we do our very best for those living in care homes.