Phillip Schofield snapped at Helen Whatley, the care minister, for for being “cold and heartless” after an ex-Coronation Street star was arrested for breaking her 97-year-old mum out of her care home.
Whatley lamented the “genuinely heartbreaking” stories of people with families in care homes during the pandemic, but was told by Schofield to “fix it”.
He said: ”Do you encourage care homes to call the police if a family come to pick up their 97-year-old mother? “It’s not necessarily about quantity of life, it’s about quality of life.
“Do you believe the care home was right to call the police?”
When the minister prevaricated, Schofield demanded that she “answer that question”.
“Where’s the compassion here, for a 97-year-old lady, who is in her final years, the family want to hug her, be with her – damn the consequences!
“They want her, she needs them, you look cold, you look heartless. This is affecting people’s mental health.
“There has to be a way around this.”
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