I want to be challenged in the view I'm about to express, but I am expressing it because in England at least it feels like it's being swept under the carpet: COVID-19 has revealed the intrinsic risks to health, wellbeing & human rights baked-in to congregate care globally

The sheer scale of mortality among people living in care homes from Covid-19 - between 1/4 & 1/3 of all deaths in England - & the deprivation of liberty & denial of the right to private & family life under the rubric of infection control must surely raise huge questions?

But it feels like the causes are all being externalised. Yes we must point to hospital discharge, lack of PPE, the reliance on agency staff, blanket policies of not admitting people to hospital and so on - all crucial faultlines or mistakes that must never be repeated

But isn't it also the case that the essential nature of congregate care settings (a) places people at greater risk of infection (b) demands a hugely disproportionate impingement on wellbeing & human rights to strive to evade it?

Even following vaccinations, there seems little sign of restrictions being lifted. People are literally imprisoned. If we are to build back better, where does congregate care fit in the future of social care centred on wellbeing & protecting & promoting human rights?

And who is asking this question?