SIR – Martin Gomersall-Webb (Letters, April 20) paints a false picture of care homes by suggesting that they were ill-equipped to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Most privately run homes had sufficient supplies of PPE, yet when they came to order more they were told that stock was being held back for the NHS.

Contrary to what Mr Gomersall-Webb suggests, Exercise Cygnus (the simulation carried out by the British government in October 2016) showed how ill-prepared the NHS was – not care homes. It is also untrue that carers in homes “are paid low wages to maximise their owners’ profits”. Privately run homes pay competitive salaries in order to attract the calibre of staff required to provide first-class residential and nursing care.

The care sector faced a shortfall of £3.5 billion even before this pandemic hit. We carried out some research that revealed that county council funding would not be enough to cover a week’s stay in a local B&B, let alone a nursing facility catering for complex medical needs. Care chiefs have rightly accused local authorities of sitting on the £1.6 billion set aside for social care. We are among the majority of providers yet to see a penny of it.

No one is blaming Boris Johnson – but NHS bosses and PHE have got a lot to answer for over PPE shortages in the care sector.

Dr Damian Tominey

Verulam House Nursing Home

St Albans, Hertfordshire

Forgotten youth