The release of a secret Covid review document has made a mockery of government claims to have thrown a “protective ring” around care homes during the pandemic.

The Covid “lessons learnt” review document, which was published by openDemocracy, reveals the government knew as early as September 2020 that the prioritisation of hospital capacity had been to the detriment of social care despite claiming to have thrown a “protective ring” around the sector.

Around 25,000 patients were discharged into care homes without testing between 17 March and 15 April 2020. A Hight Court ruling in April 2022 found the care home discharge policy unlawful.

The review document found “glaring omissions in strategic direction of integration and preparedness” within the sector, “meaning that the social care system was not able to respond to a major health emergency”.

The document revealed the assumption that private care providers would be “responsible for their own response” to the pandemic.

It also admits pausing care home inspections “removed one of the department’s lines of sight into ASC [adult social care] and limited its direct knowledge of what was happening on the ground”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic the government acted to save lives and livelihoods, prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and deliver a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected millions of lives across the nation.

“We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the Covid-19 Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future. We will consider all recommendations made to the department in full.”