COVID in care homes: 'We weren't prepared, we weren't ready, we were forgotten'

Care homes were "forgotten" during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, an industry leader has told Sky News.

Mike Padgham, chairman of the Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, told Trevor Phillips residents were left without protection.

“I don’t believe myself there was a ring of protection thrown round us,” Mr Padgham said.

“We weren’t prepared. We weren’t ready. We didn’t have the PPE, we didn’t have the testing.

“And it took the government many, many weeks to actually see what was happening in homes, despite our best efforts and protestations."

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynews

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skynews

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skynews

For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.skynews.android&hl=en_GB

Sky News videos are now available in Spanish here/Los video de Sky News están disponibles en español aquí https://www.youtube.com/channel/skynewsespanol