Court date set for Sidmouth woman's judicial review over Covid deaths in care homes

A court date in October has been set for a Sidmouth woman's legal challenge to the Government over Covid deaths in care homes.

But Dr Cathy Gardner – whose father died of 'probable Covid-19' in a care home in April 2020 – says there are 'very serious gaps and omissions' in the documents provided by the Government and the NHS in their evidence to the court.

Dr Gardner has been granted a judicial review of Government policies that she alleges 'failed to take into account the vulnerability of care home residents and staff to infection and death, the inadequacy of testing and PPE availability'.

She is claiming that the Government unlawfully failed to protect the lives of care home residents.

In particular, she wants scrutiny of the Government's decision to discharge patients from hospital back into care homes without Covid tests in March 2020 – and the role played by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the decision-making process.

In the latest update on her CrowdJustice page, set up to help pay her legal costs, she says:

"Whilst we are pleased that the Court has listed the final hearing, the Government's witness evidence and disclosure raise a number of very serious concerns, which are likely to require us to make a number of further applications to the Court in advance of our final hearing.

"Our initial view is that there are very serious gaps and omissions in the documents that the Government and NHS has provided."

She expresses concern that, without these documents, the court will not be able to examine the Government's actions and decisions effectively.

She added that the Government's witness evidence 'includes assertions and claims which are directly contradicted by public statements which Ministers and senior Government officials made at the time the decisions we challenge were made in March and April 2020'.

The Government has strongly denied acting illegally, and said it took extensive steps to protect staff and residents in care homes.

The judicial review hearing has been scheduled to start on October 19 2021 and is expected to last for three days.