Covid inquiry's care lessons: only Wales has set a date to respond

A damning report that changes nothing on the floor yet

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry published its report on adult social care on 20 October 2026, covering care homes, homecare and unpaid carers across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. More than 43,000 deaths linked to the pandemic were recorded in UK care homes between March 2020 and July 2022, the inquiry found (opens in a new tab).

It sets out eight recommendations to governments and other responsible bodies. They are advice, not new legal requirements that take effect now.

That is the point for anyone running a care service. The isolation places, pay support and inspection plans the inquiry wants for the next pandemic do not exist yet. Whether they ever do depends on how each government responds, and only Wales has confirmed when it will.

Testing fell short at discharge, and visits were cut off

Testing was not enough to tell whether people discharged from hospital into care homes in March 2020 had the virus, the inquiry found. England, Wales and Northern Ireland did not at first advise that those residents be isolated.

Visiting restrictions caused "immense distress and harm" to people receiving care and their families, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament (opens in a new tab), summing up the findings of Baroness Hallett's report.

What the inquiry wants ready before the next pandemic

Governments should prepare practical arrangements, including suitable places, to expand isolation for people leaving hospital in a future pandemic. They should also set up schemes, designed with the care sector, so care workers are paid quickly for lost income when told to isolate or stop work.

That second proposal goes to the heart of a rota. Without such a scheme, staff could lose money by isolating.

The inquiry wants any future visiting limits kept as narrow as possible, with in-person visits protected except in the most serious circumstances. It also wants mandatory end-of-life care training for health and social care professionals in all four nations.

One proposal is aimed at providers as well as regulators. Both should plan for routine inspections, including on-site visits, to carry on during a future public health emergency. If governments adopt it, inspections would continue next time rather than pause.

England is offered a voluntary register, not a required one

The inquiry recommends that the UK government introduce a voluntary register for adult social care workers in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland already have workforce registration arrangements.

A voluntary scheme does not become a condition of working in care unless ministers go further. So the gap between England and the other nations stays open for now, and the benefits the inquiry links to registration depend on decisions not yet taken.

Wales has a deadline. Westminster has a plan, but no date

The Welsh Government must respond to the findings and recommendations within six months, by 20 April 2027, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth told the Senedd (opens in a new tab). It has not been confirmed whether England, Scotland and Northern Ireland face the same deadline.

Burnham said the government would use the findings to keep developing its Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan. He also said it would respond to Baroness Casey's review when it is published, the review covered in our piece on ministers preparing free personal care before Casey reports. He set no timetable or cost for the recommendations.

Until ministers in London answer, the isolation places, pay for isolating staff and inspection plans care homes would need in the next pandemic are still a list of recommendations.