Thread by @ChrisMasonBBC

Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England, tells the Health Select Committee that despite what others have said "there were cases of people....who were symptomatic discharged into care homes."

Professor Green: "We should have been focusing on care homes from the start of this pandemic. The focus was on the NHS. Support was withdrawn." There was "destruction of our supply chains on PPE. We didn’t see everyone who needed a hospital intervention going to hospital."

James Bullion, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services in England: "We still don’t have an effective supply chain, although things have improved since March."

James Bullion: "We are not finished with waves of Covid in the social care sector in my view."

James Bullion: "The care workforce is 1.6 million. We are nowhere near the level of testing that is required."

Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive, Care England: "We are not really clear about what were the biggest routes of transmission."

Professor Green: "Before this pandemic we had staff issues. We have upscale our approach to filling gaps in the system."

Professor Martin Green is incredibly forthright:
"We have still got to the get the PPE situation sorted out." "We need a national strategy. Localism is not fit for purpose in a crisis. We need some central direction."
Some services "might go under."

James Bullion argues, though, that "local government and local NHS has helped protect social care."

More from Professor Green:
PPE "extremely problematic"
"Endless guidance from various different agencies that has been changing by the day"
"Public Health England understands the NHS but doesn’t understand the social care workforce and what our needs are."

James Bullion:
* the sector is "sleep walking" re staff strategy
* "35% turnover rate"
* Social care staff "without a career grade structure"

Bullion: "People moving between 3 or 4 venues is a consequence of that."
"We have a 20% quality problem -- either inadequate or requires improvement."