The chairman of the National Care Association, based in Medway, has called on Boris Johnson to apologise after he blamed the high rate of coronavirus deaths in care homes on "too many " providers failing to follow health guidelines.

Nadra Ahmed is urging the Prime Minister to retract his "ill-judged" comment and say sorry after he sparked anger among the social care sector by claiming it had not adhered to procedures.

Describing his accusation as "a huge insult", Ms Ahmed said:"To think they have stood clapping for the NHS and social care and then use the same hands to slap the faces of social carer is absolutely appalling."

Ms Ahmed went on to say that it was not the sector's fault that PPE was not initially available and not its fault that staff shortages had not been addressed for a decade.

She said:"When you think of some of the mistakes hat have been made, I am absolutely stunned that he has made those comments and he should retract them.

"To hear this from the Prime Minister it's appaling and disheartening for the sector who have worked so hard to deliver the care they have done. Our workforce is exhausted.

Ms Ahmed stressed that those in the sector had followed guidelines and that, initially, those issued by the government had been wrong, including taking patients back to care homes from hospital.

She also accused the government of making decisions too late, saying care homes had been shutting down and going into isolation before being told to.

About 20,000 residents have died in care homes during the pandemic.

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