SIR: As a former director of social services and non-executive director of an NHS Trust it is difficult to understand why older people are being left to die of coronavirus in care homes and not being admitted to hospital? People in care homes are just as in need of, and entitled to, hospital care as anyone else.

It is bad enough that they are not being included in the daily statistics, as though they don’t count, but of more concern if they are being denied the care that might save their lives. Care homes do not have ventilators or intensive care units.

The Government’s strategy is to “shield” the most vulnerable and yet home carers are going from house to house without PPE (masks, goggles, gloves and gowns) risking spreading the virus or catching it themselves.

Despite having had at least three months’ notice, and advice from the World Health Organisation, the Government was slow in building up its capacity for testing, failed to close its borders and late in introducing “social distancing”. People are still coming into the country via our major airports without having their temperatures taken at passport control and if need be quarantined.

South Korea has shown just what could have been achieved by the early closure of our borders, testing, tracing and isolating contacts, and introducing early “lock down”.

That not enough foresight was applied in January to get enough PPE for the NHS, care homes, home carers, and super-market staff, not to mention availability of masks for the public, when people in China were seen wearing them on every television newscast is incomprehensible.

The UK Government has bought 3.5million serology tests although there is still no proof that one cannot get the virus a second time. This smacks of the catastrophic “herd immunity” concept, which could have cost 250,000 lives, and no mention is made of what is to happen to those who have not had coronavirus or built up immunity, as a vaccine is a long way off, which is why the Government’s rationale and exit strategy must be subject of public scrutiny.

Chris J Perry MA CSW,

Former director of social services South Glamorgan County Council,

Former non-executive director of Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust,

Former director of Age Concern Hampshire,

Southampton Road,

Hythe