A social care leader said the loss of care home residents in West Wales who died of Covid was the “worst possible nightmare”.

Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, was speaking in the wake of the publication of the death notifications for individual homes by regulators Care Inspectorate Wales who admitted the statistics were flawed and not accurate.

Frontline staff across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion had fought a heroic battle to keep the virus out of care homes, putting their own lives on the line in the process.

Many homes had managed to keep the infection at bay and had been able to avoid fatalities.

But Care Inspectorate Wales pointed out that the fact that certain homes had suffered losses was not a reflection on the quality of the care they provided.

They said that once the virulent infection got into a care home, it was incredibly difficult to control and contain.

During the first wave of coronavirus, care homes struggled desperately because of the dire shortage of PPE and the lack of testing of residents and staff. Concerns were voiced that resources were being concentrated on the NHS rather than social care.

At the same time untested hospital patients who were being discharged into care homes. Although they did not have symptoms at the time many did actually have Covid.

The second surge saw the emergence of the more infectious Kent variant of the disease, with community transmission soaring.

Ms Wimbury said: “The profoundly traumatic impact of the pandemic is the greatest ever crisis faced by the social care sector in Wales. It was and remains our worst possible nightmare.

“Our mission in life is to safeguard the vulnerable people for whom we provide care. They are our extended family and the fact that so many of them were taken by Covid hurts very badly.

“Our deepest sympathies go to the families and friends of those we lost to this terrible virus. They will always be in our hearts.

“We would like to place on record our admiration and thanks to the wonderful social care workforce who selflessly and heroically put their own lives on the line and we will never forget the sacrifice of front line staff who also paid the ultimate price.

“Too many lives have been cut short and the publication of these figures underlines the terrible toll we have all suffered. Every single death was a tragedy for those who passed away and their loved ones.

“It has also been a traumatic time for staff and managers – the stress of constant vigilance against the virus cannot be underestimated."