Memories of the pandemic are still raw for many, including the thousands of care staff who worked on the front line.
Being left with no choice but to make aprons from bin bags, watching helpless as care home residents died, and living in fear of infecting loved ones are among the harrowing experiences haunting them still.
Social care was treated as a second-class service and its skilled employees abandoned by the government during Covid.
There was no protective ring around care homes. Ministers systematically neglected staff and the people in their care, exposing them to the virus with grim consequences.
Matt Hancock’s recent evidence to the Covid Inquiry highlights this lack of political accountability.
The former health and social care secretary's account of the darkest days of the pandemic was a masterclass in buck-passing, deflection and responsibility dodging.
His claim that he had the job title, was accountable but didn't have the levers to act rings hollow.
When the mood took Matt Hancock, he was perfectly capable of using his influence and authority.
Discharging Covid-positive NHS patients into care homes, forcing staff to take the vaccination, banning relatives from visiting. These were all policies he pursued.
Matt Hancock's assertion he was powerless over a care sector left without enough safety kit, sick pay or adequate testing defies belief.
This is a poorly disguised attempt to shirk responsibility for a situation the then secretary of state could have prevented, had the sector been a priority.
Powerlessness was Matt Hancock’s choice. He could have made proper sick pay mandatory for all care workers. He could have made sourcing protective kit and testing for all care workers his absolute priority.
Matt Hancock's disastrous failure to keep the care sector from harm is a lesson that radical change is needed. And needed now.
That means a national care service providing access to quality support for all those who need it.
A service on a par with the NHS, delivered by empowered local councils, but where political responsibility stops with the secretary of state.
A high-quality care service backed by long-term funding, set at decent levels. A service focused on providing world-class care, not delivering huge profits for shareholders.
All staff in social care would have their wages set nationally, along with holidays, sick pay and other job benefits. Underlying all this would be a proper workforce plan. But this will take time. Time the sector doesn't have.
Care workers need an emergency pay boost now to help keep experienced staff in their posts and encourage others to have careers in care. The staffing crisis won't end otherwise.
UNISON recently commissioned a report from the Fabian Society. The response to it has been heartening. It’s had a major impact on the debate by setting out a roadmap for reform.
Some learn by their mistakes. Others, like this government, look set to carry on repeating them.
Social care can no longer be ignored or forgotten. Care staff and those they support deserve a much brighter future.