Care leaders have given their reaction to the publication of WhatsApp messages by former health secretary Matt Hancock sent during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Daily Telegraph alleged earlier this week that the messages, which were leaked by the co-author of Hancock’s Pandemic Diaries, Isabel Oakeshott, revealed the former health secretary ignored medical advice to test all entrants into care homes.

Hancock has strongly denied the allegations saying the report had been “doctored to create a false story”.

Independent Care Group chair Mike Padgham said the messages seemed to “expose a tragic betrayal of those most vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

“We can only guess how many lives were lost because the spread of the virus in care and nursing homes was not prevented sooner,” Padgham said.

“The cavalier attitude being taken towards care settings makes a nonsense of the claims that the government was throwing ‘a protective ring’ around care homes. It was doing anything but.”

Padgham said some “very serious questions” needed to be answered about the government’s handling of the pandemic in care homes.

John Godden, chief executive of Salutem Care, said: “The Lockdown Files revelations are a tough read, particularly for those in the care sector who had to make difficult calls in unprecedented times.

“Forcing people from hospitals to care homes created a climate of fear in our services particularly without being tested.  We tried to resist this and ended up battling against government policy.  It was a stupid policy and made matters worse, hospitals were at the epicentre of the pandemic so moving people from there into care settings was wrong.”