THE organisation which represents care homes in England has criticised the government and the Care Quality Commission.

It comes as the CQC publishes data that shows the numbers of deaths of residents in care homes during the pandemic.

Wiltshire Care Partnership has said it does not believe the data "in any way reflects that care homes or their staff did anything wrong".

It also noted "with dismay" that the Prime Minister and the Matt Hancock denied that the policy was ever to discharge patients to care homes without testing, but "that narrative is not true".

'Remind the public about context'

The partnership has issued a statement in order to "remind the public about the context of the gathering of the data, and crucially the circumstances that gave rise to deaths in care homes".

It adds that there are a series of risk factors that explain why some homes had higher deaths than others, such as larger homes with larger admissions and therefore greater risks, homes which cared for people with more complex needs, and homes that continued to support the NHS by accepting people from hospitals.

These are:

  • Larger homes would be likely to have more admissions, and therefore a greater risk that the virus could enter
  • Homes caring for people with more complex needs
  • Homes who continued to support the NHS and the wider health & care system by accepting people from hospitals
  • Homes that, as part of an agreed local policy, were operating as Covid+ centres in order to protect other care homes and community settings
  • The infection rate in some parts of Wiltshire was higher than others, creating a greater risk that the virus could enter the home

It also points out that numbers include people who were admitted to hospital from a care home with Covid19 and subsequently died in hospital and people who were admitted to hospital from a care home for another reason and then contracted Covid19 and subsequently died in hospital.

  • People who died from another condition within 28 days of testing positive for Covid19
  • People who died in the early part of the pandemic, who were never tested for Covid19, but where it was given as the cause of death on their death certificate, although never confirmed.
  • People who died in the early part of the pandemic, who were never tested for Covid19, but where the person had symptoms then associated with COVID (high temperature, cough etc) within 28 days and providers reported suspected COVID to CQC, but it was not listed as a cause of death on their death certificate.

'Some numbers are inaccurate'

CQC offers the explanation that care homes self-reported this information, but the WCP believes it is more accurate to say that "care homes self-reported this information after being told by CQC that they must do so".

Some homes also believe the information published by CQC about them to be inaccurate and are seeking to clarify how the numbers were established.

WCP also believes that the factors that had significant impact on the prevalence of outbreaks and deaths in care homes, particularly during the first wave, were the government’s policy was that people should be discharged from hospital into care homes without the benefit of testing; and that the right quantity and quality of Personal Protective Equipment was not available for care homes for several weeks in March, April and into May 2020.

'Staff worked tirelessly for 16 months'

A statement adds: "Care providers and care associations around the country have noted with dismay that the Prime Minister and the last Secretary of State for Health have denied that the policy was ever to discharge patients to care homes without testing, but that narrative is not true and it undoubtedly had a major impact on the number of outbreaks and deaths.

"It is fair to say that very little was known about Covid19 at the time, but what was known was that viruses will spread more quickly among the most vulnerable groups.

"In Wiltshire we saw the first outbreaks in care homes just days after the start of the push to discharge people without testing in April."In summary, we hope the media will continue to report the context and the decision making behind these numbers as it has done throughout the pandemic. Journalists around the country have been diligent in their holding to account of politicians and their policies, giving voice to those most affected by the pandemic.

The statement goes onto praise care staff in Wiltshire and around the country, saying they "worked tirelessly for 16 months and they will continue to abide by rules governing infection prevention and control even as the rest of the country reaches the end of all restrictions this week. They came into work day in day out and cared for very sick people in some cases, while some GPs and other health professionals refused to attend."