A government official has revealed that hospital discharge took priority over the care sector during the Covid pandemic.

The admission was made by Simon Ridley, the former head of the Cabinet Office Covid-19 Taskforce, at yesterday’s hearing in the Covid Inquiry.

Ridley said the government aimed to have around 15,000 people discharged from hospitals into social care between the end of March and the beginning of April 2020.

A report by the National Audit Office published in June 2020, however, said 25,000 people were discharged from hospitals into care homes between mid-March and mid-April without all being tested for Covid.

When asked if there was concerns in the highest circles of government about people being discharged into the sector without a negative test, Ridley said: “So, yes, there was great concern from the prime minister, colleagues in number 10, the cabinet office about the position in care homes and what could be done to mitigate it. That wasn’t just about testing.”

He added: “I think everyone was agreed that we needed to discharge people from the NHS given the rise in Covid infections and hospitalisations and the need to have space and capacity for them.”

Responding to whether the primacy of discharge took precedence over the care sector, Ridley answered: “So that is precisely what we were — what the government was balancing. And, yes, in — it was the case that it was a priority for discharge to happen, and as we — as the HMIG discussions were about, what the support and mitigations for care home and the care sector were, there were some limitations to that in terms of testing capacity.”

Former health secretary Matt Hancock infamously stated a “protective ring” was thrown around care homes during the pandemic.

Giving evidence to the inquiry in June, Hancock said plans to protect care homes during the pandemic were “terrible”.