Investigation into care home Covid measures
Dozens of care homes have been urgently investigated over “serious concerns” that staff and residents were left dangerously exposed to coronavirus,
The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Urgent inspections were carried out by the Care Quality Commission during lockdown on around 50 homes where managers allegedly failed to follow safety procedures. Providers now face scores of compensation claims from families who blame negligence for the deaths of their loved ones.
DOZENS of care homes have been urgently investigated over “serious concerns” that staff and residents were left dangerously exposed to coronavirus, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Urgent inspections were carried out by the Care Quality Commission during lockdown on around 50 homes where managers allegedly failed to follow safety procedures around Covid-19.
Providers now face scores of compensation claims from families who blame negligence for the deaths of their loved ones, it can be revealed.
It comes after Boris Johnson provoked a backlash after suggesting “too many” care homes did not properly follow procedures during the pandemic.
The Prime Minister’s comments were branded a “real slap in the face” for front-line care workers by the Independent Care Group, while Labour demanded a public apology.
However, Whitehall sources last night suggested some care bosses “must accept their share of the blame” for the homes crisis, which is thought to have cost at least 20,000 lives.
“Obviously the Government has to face up to the fact that much of the guidance came too late, and the PPE and testing was a disaster,” the senior source said. “But some of these care providers are no angels either.”
The CQC confirmed that since routine inspections were suspended on March 16, inspectors carried out around 50 urgent “responsive visits” to examine “serious concerns”.
Documents seen by The Telegraph show that the Unison union submitted several official grievances to the CQC on behalf of low-paid staff members.
According to the complaints, some managers told staff with “persistent coughs” to come into work despite Government guidance, or risk having their pay stopped. Others allowed low paid agency workers to move between homes despite the risk of infections, while staff were allegedly warned they could be sacked if they spoke out.
“While there are lots of good employers in the care sector, there are many bad ones,” said Gavin Edwards, a Unison senior national officer. “Care workers were pressured to work despite showing symptoms or needing to shield, or not told about colleagues or residents testing positive.
“No wonder the virus spread so rapidly causing so many deaths. Lessons must be learned, and quickly.”
According to data seen by The Telegraph, the CQC received nearly 900 calls between March and May from whistle-blowers with concerns around infection control or social distancing.
Most complaints were followed up with a phone call, but in extreme cases a physical inspection was required.
Meanwhile, care providers face compensation claims from families of those who died from Covid-19 in their care.
Blackwater Legal, a law firm specialising in medical negligence cases, is investigating dozens of claims against care homes. Reasons include inadequate safety measures for visitors, relatives having to clear up rooms without PPE, and poor cleaning measures. Others argue that bosses should have done more to stop patients being transferred from hospitals without negative tests.
Care leaders said yesterday that the Prime Minister’s suggestion that care home workers were not following procedures was “totally inappropriate” and “hugely insulting”.
Mark Adams, the chief executive of the charity Community Integrated Care, told the BBC: “I think this – at best – was clumsy and cowardly, but, to be honest with you, if this is genuinely his view, I think we’re almost entering a Kafkaesque alternative reality where the Government set the rules, we follow them, they don’t like the results and they then deny setting the rules and blame the people that were trying to do their best.”
Downing Street declined to apologise for the Prime Minister’s remarks. Asked what Mr Johnson had meant, a spokesman said: “The Prime Minister was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.”
Kate Terroni, the CQC chief inspector of adult social care, said: “We reduced the number of physical inspections to limit the number of people going in and out of care homes, but we’ve continued to inspect where we have concerns about care and have conducted nearly 50 inspections during lock down. In some of these cases we’ve taken action in response to poor care, but we have also seen lots of examples of staff going to extraordinary lengths to protect the people in their care.”