Logo

Leading claimant law firm to explore whether legal claims can be brought after High Court ruling on discharge of patients into care homes

Leigh Day has said it is looking into potential claims on behalf of families following last week’s High Court ruling that government policy issued in the early stages of the pandemic which let patients be discharged from hospitals to care homes without Covid-19 testing was unlawful.

The law firm said it was investigating the possibility of negligence claims against the Government.

In Gardner & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care & Ors [2022] EWHC 967 (Admin), Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Garnham found that government policy in March and early April 2020 was “irrational” because it failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission. 

Leigh Day partner Emma Jones told the Sunday Mirror: "This High Court ruling that the policy was 'unlawful' assists our investigations into whether it is possible for families who lost loved ones to sue the government in negligence. If we can build a case and one of these is successful it could lead to one of the first and largest group action of its kind.
 
"The recent case looked at the overarching principles and the law. We are now investigating whether or not there might be a case on behalf of people's loved ones who died in care homes. This will include an investigation into the facts of each individual case.This is important because for families it's not about the money,it's about answers."

(c) HB Editorial Services Ltd 2009-2022