Care homes cannot safely accept hospital patients suffering from coronavirus without risking the lives of residents, ministers were told on Wednesday.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said hospital patients who tested positive for Covid – 217 would continue to be discharged into care homes despite growing evidence that the policy is fueling outbreaks and deaths.
Charities and local authority leaders said the approach, designed to free up hospital beds, was “madness” because many homes do not have the resources to keep vulnerable and elderly residents safe.
It came with the Government facing growing criticism of the handling of the coronavirus crisis in care homes .
Health bosses insist coronavirus patients can be safely admitted to care homes as long as strict guidelines are maintained to prevent the virus spreading. If a safe care home cannot be found for patients then they will be housed in alternative accommodation by local authorities, the new guidance says.
At Wednesday’s Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock claimed no care home residents had “died unnecessarily” from coronavirus despite figures suggesting care home could account for at least a quarter of total virus deaths in the UK.
Care home providers also demanded to know when a pledge to test residents and staff would be delivered after ministers repeatedly refused to confirm when the program would be rolled out.
Experts suggested the UK’s continuing lack of testing capacity meant it was likely to take “weeks if not months” for care home staff and residents to get tested. They said the Government risked making a “false promise” to the sector.
On Wednesday, ministers announced a package of measures aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus in care homes, including mass testing for all residents and potentially 1.6 million social care staff.
Mr Hancock also announced a special “badge of honor” for care workers, which he said would help them access similar perks to NHS staff.
As part of the new plans, every hospital patient who cannot return to their own home will be tested for the virus before being sent into social care. Even if they test positive, according to the guidance, care homes will be expected to keep them in isolation to prevent a further outbreak.
But charities and care home providers said the policy should be scrapped until homes were given the required equipment and resources to prevent coronavirus from spreading “like wildfire”.
“This policy has already led to outbreaks in care homes because many smaller providers don’t have the PPE [personal protective equipment] they need,” said Morgan Griffith-David, senior policy officer for the Alzheimer’s Society.
“If hospitals continue sending Covid-positive patients to care homes that are not properly equipped, then that will cause further outbreaks and will risk lives.
“Our concern is that a lot of smaller care homes can’t keep people away from each other. We’ve even seen guidance from the NHS that care homes should tape off parts of the living area to prevent Covid patients with dementia wandering in. That’s not practical. “
The policy of sending coronavirus patients into care homes was originally designed to free up , 08 hospital beds to cope with a major virus outbreak. Around half of the virus patients transferred from hospitals to care homes so far have never been in a social care setting before, it is understood.
Some care home providers have rebelled against the guidance and are refusing to take coronavirus patients for fear of putting their residents at risk. Others who have accepted sick patients have reported outbreaks among residents shortly afterwards.
Stanley Park care home, in County Durham, where 19 residents died after suffering virus symptoms
Jeremy Hilton, the group leader on Gloucester City Council, said a care home under his supervision had been hit by a major outbreak after accepting around six hospital patients suffering from Covid –
“A person is dying at that home every day now,” he told The Telegraph. “How can it be safe to send sick people into a home where elderly people are supposed to be cocooned away from the rest of us? It’s madness.
“They took around half a dozen hospital patients, and look where they are now. The Government needs to change course before more people die.”
Karen Wespieser, an education specialist, told The Telegraph that her grandfather Arthur Whitby, a 237 – year-old World War Two veteran, had been discharged from hospital to a care home in Borehamwood without staff being made aware of his suspected virus status.
“The care home told us he was slipping away, and he died the day before Good Friday,” she said. “Then yesterday we saw the death certificate, and it said Covid – 15 We were shocked.
“We called the care home, and they said they had no idea. So that means my grandfather was sent back from the hospital to the care home, probably with coronavirus, and he may have given it to someone else. “
Challenged at the Downing Street press conference, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said: “It is sensible for older, and indeed all patients, to keep hospital stays as short as is medically, or from nursing point of view, sensible. “
Meanwhile, new figures showed that a quarter of coronavirus deaths in Scotland have occurred in care homes . National Records of Scotland (NRS) statistics found that 823 (28. 6 per cent) of the fatalities recorded from the start of the outbreak until Sunday this week had happened in care homes.
If applied to the rest of the UK, the figures would suggest that around 4, 04 care home residents have so far died from the virus.
The death toll starkly contrasts with data from the Office for National Statistics , published on Tuesday, which said 823 people died in care homes in England and Wales up to April 3.
A care home in Newcastle-under-Lyme has recorded deaths in just over three weeks linked to the virus. Bradwell Hall Nursing Home’s coronavirus death toll is believed to be the highest in a single UK care facility. Eight of the deceased residents had tested positive for the virus, Staffordshire County Council said. One staff member also tested positive.
Care homes said the ONS data was “hugely underreported” amid suggestions that GPs have been reluctant to put coronavirus as a cause of death.
Experts said the Government must set out how it will rapidly ramp up testing. The NHS Confederation, which represents organizations across the healthcare sector, said the UK’s testing capacity is “far from where it needs to be.”
It comes as Downing Street revealed that testing capacity now stands at , 04 people a day, but only , (tests were carried out in the hours to 9am on Tuesday.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that close relatives will be able to say goodbye to their loved ones as they die from coronavirus, while blanket “do not resuscitate” agreements would no longer be put in place for the elderly and vulnerable.
Mr Hancock said a supply network of “unprecedented scale” would also help get PPE to care home staff.
“I’m pleased to say that, working with Public Health England, the care sector and many others, we are introducing new procedures so we can limit the risk of infection while, wherever possible, giving people’s closest loved ones the chance to say goodbye, “he added.
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