Matt Hancock faced ridicule today as he unveiled a new badge for under-pressure care workers amid fury over the rising death toll of vulnerable patients in homes.
The Health Secretary used the daily press coronavirus press conference to reveal a ‘single brand’ for care workers to allow them to access the same perks as NHS staff.
He said he hoped it would be seen as a ‘badge of honour’, but his comments were criticised, coming amid rising anger over deaths in care homes and a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff.
Critics pointed out that the badge had been launched last summer as ‘a unifying symbol of pride and quality in care’, and so was not even new.
Fears have been raised that the death toll in care homes in England and Wales is far higher than the official 217 reported since the outbreak started, with industry figures saying the true count is much closer to 4,000.
After the announcement today, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth tweeted: ‘A badge? Really a badge??’
The Health Secretary used the daily press coronavirus press conference to reveal a ‘single brand’ for care workers to allow them to access the same perks as HNS staff
Critics pointed out that the badge had been launched last summer as ‘a unifying symbol of pride and quality in care’, and was not even new
He also outlined new measures to allow compassionate visits to nursing homes and outlaw the blanket use of ‘do not resuscitate’ (DNR) plans, which staff claim they’ve been asked to routinely sign during the crisis
Labour’s shadow Treasury minister Wes Streeting tweeted: ‘Are you a care worker doing a vitally important job for people we love on outrageously low pay and in dangerous conditions because you haven’t been provided with PPE?
‘The Government wants you to know how valued you are. Here: have a badge.’
And Hartlepool MP Mike Hill added: ‘Care Workers don’t need a brand or a pin badge, they need COVID testing now, PPE, proper recognition, better pay and fair contractual terms and conditions of employment.’
Mr Hancock confirmed care homes have been ordered to allow grieving relatives a last chance to say goodbye to loved-ones before they die from coronavirus amid shocking reports of elderly victims dying alone because of infection fears.
He also outlined new measures to allow compassionate visits to nursing homes and outlaw the blanket use of ‘do not resuscitate’ (DNR) plans, which staff claim they’ve been asked to routinely sign during the crisis.
Mr Hancock said a supply network of ‘unprecedented scale’ would help get personal protective equipment to care home staff.
Former professional footballer Cyril Lawrence, 99, passed away after catching the coronavirus at a care home in Bolton
‘This badge will be a badge of honour in a very real sense, allowing social care staff proudly and publicly to identify themselves, just like NHS staff do with that famous blue and white logo,’ he said.
‘I know that many businesses will want to offer the same recognition and benefits as they do wonderfully to the NHS.’
Supermarkets had been asked to give the same priority access to care workers as NHS staff, he said.
Carole Foster, 77, passed away last Wednesday at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, just one day after being admitted
His new measures for visits came after families have complained of having to say their last goodbyes over Skype or from outside buildings as facilities do not want them to enter because of the infection risk.
One family revealed they were forced to wave goodbye to a deceased loved one from a nursing home car park in Nottingham while the body was removed by undertakers on Easter Monday.
He use the daily press conference this evening to say he had been emotionally affected by the death of a teenager.
‘Wanting to be with someone you love at the end of their life is one of the deepest human instincts,’ he said.
‘And it is a moment that will be with you forever. Done right, it can help those left behind to cope and it brings comfort to those who are dying.
‘Coronavirus of course has made this much more difficult and I have been really moved and upset by some of the heartbreaking stories of people dying without a loved one nearby.
‘As a father of a 13-year-old myself the reports of Ishmael dying aged 13 without a parent at his bedside made me weep.
And the sight of his coffin being lowered into a grave without a member of his family present was too awful.’
The Government’s U-turn comes after a family were made to wave goodbye to a deceased loved one from a care home car park.
Relatives watched on as the body of a resident at Wren Hall nursing home in Nottinghamshire was removed by undertakers on Easter Monday.
A lack of testing means health officials have no idea how many care home residents are dying to the virus.
Care home managers had banned families from visiting over fears they could bring the virus into homes, where it could have devastating effects on highly vulnerable elderly residents often with serious underlying health conditions.
The latest report from the Office for National Statistics says the virus killed 217 care home residents in England and Wales up to April 3.
But industry figures say the true count is much higher – potentially 4,000 since the outbreak started.
Campaigners and MPs warned yesterday of an ‘unfolding horror’ that could end up with tens of thousands of forgotten victims.
Ministers face urgent calls to get a grip and get virus tests for all staff and residents with symptoms, more protection gear and a Cabinet minister to deal with the crisis.
This morning it was revealed eight people have died with suspected coronavirus at Green Heys Care Home in Waterloo, Merseyside.
The virus appears to be sweeping through nursing homes up and down the country.
Stanley Park care home in County Durham lost its 13th resident to the virus on Monday, while 12 people have died at a home in Cranhill, Glasgow.
Wren Hall nursing home in Nottinghamshire has lost 10 to the virus, eight at another in Dumbarton – plus 13, 11 and 15 at homes in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire and Luton.
Mark Adams, chief executive officer for Community Integrated Care, which runs the home said: ‘Whilst this is a devastating number, it may have been higher had it not been for the dedicated and selfless response of our team, who have exemplified the commitment, bravery and skill, that exists within the social care workforce.’
Debbie Cholwill said her mother, who had dementia and was living in a care home, passed away on April 10 after testing positive for coronavirus
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night pledged action on testing and is also expected to outline a plan to address the crisis in a social care strategy.
All care home residents and staff with symptoms of Covid-19 are to be tested as the Government faces a backlash over its handling of the growing crisis.
Social Care Minister Helen Whately told BBC Breakfast this morning: ‘We have been doing everything that we can to protect those really vulnerable people living in care homes or receiving care at home.
Chris Schmid told MailOnline his great aunt Isabel Francis, 94, passed away in Fieldway care home in Mitcham, South London on Friday, April 10
‘From the moment it looked like coronavirus was coming our way… we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness.’
She added it had been ‘harder to get heard’ on social care issues than for the NHS and said the Government had ‘taken huge steps to get PPE out to the care sector’.
Care home operators complain they are being overlooked, with desperate short – ages of testing and staff safety equipment making it extremely hard to stop the dis – ease ravaging their sites.
Jeremy Richardson, chief executive of Four Seasons, which has 191 care homes across the UK, told the Guardian that the official figures ‘materially understated’ the crisis, adding: ‘From colleagues in the sector and in Four Seasons’ experience, it is closer to 60 per cent (infection rate).’
It comes after furious families today accused the Government of ‘sacrificing’ Britain’s elderly in the fight against coronavirus by discharging COVID-19 patients into care homes and signing the ‘death warrant’ of the most vulnerable in society.
NHS hospitals have been ordered to drastically free up beds, meaning thousands of patients have been released, with scores of elderly Britons meeting the criteria sent to care homes dotted across the UK.
In a revolt against the ‘dangerous’ drive, some care homes have already refused to accept patients over coronavirus fears – not everyone is swabbed for the killer virus before they are discharged from hospital.
But one home in Essex was allegedly forced to accept an elderly COVID-19 patient ‘against their wishes’ before they were re-admitted to hospital the next day. The daughter of a 96-year-old resident accused Number 10 of ‘recklessly exposing’ others to the infection.
In Herefordshire, a dementia-stricken 78-year-old was discharged from hospital to a care home, without her family being told. She also had a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) notice along with the orders not to send back to hospital if she caught coronavirus.
Demanding action from Downing Street, her daughter said: ‘My mother has worked all her life and paid into the NHS they do not have the right to sign her death warrant because she’s old and has dementia.’
Despite hospitals being told to free up space, it was revealed last night that London’s Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel Centre sat almost empty with just 19 coronavirus patients treated over the Easter weekend.
The Birchwood Residential Care Home, in Essex, was allegedly forced to accept an elderly COVID-19 patient ‘against their wishes’ before they were re-admitted to hospital the next day
Workers help prepare the ExCel London centre, which has been made into the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital
Mark Gordon fears his mother Susan (above), a 76-year-old terminally-ill cancer patient, is too weak to fight off coronavirus after contracting the infection while at a Tayside care home. He claims staff did not use PPE when dealing with patients
George Hillhouse’s 74-year-old mother, Helen Smith, died at Almond Court care home in Drumchapel, Glasgow, on Saturday
LONDON’S NEW MAKE-SHIFT HOSPITAL HAD JUST 19 PATIENTS OVER EASTER
A hospital bed and respirator at ExCel London
London’s Nightingale Hospital sat almost empty with just 19 coronavirus patients treated over the Easter weekend.
The 4,000 capacity flagship hospital was opened by Prince Charles via video link almost two weeks ago and is designed to handle a large surge in coronavirus cases.
However data circulated to health chiefs and seen by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) shows some hospitals have been able to double their ICU capacity, to 1,555 beds, despite rising levels of infections.
It also showed only 19 patients were receiving treatment over the Easter weekend at the facility located in the Docklands.
It comes after care industry bosses yesterday suggested that two thirds of all homes across Britain have recorded coronavirus cases. Around 500,000 people are in care homes in the UK.
Grim statistics released yesterday also showed the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes rose ten-fold by the start of April, up from just 20 for the week ending March 27.
But the true scale of the coronavirus catastrophe in Britain’s care homes is a mystery because the figures released by the Office for National Statistics are almost two weeks out-of-date.
Number 10 is under mounting pressure to start recording all coronavirus deaths, wherever they happen, amid the accusations the true toll is being swept under the carpet.
The UK’s care home regulator, the Care Quality Commission, announced it would step in to collect daily numbers of coronavirus deaths.
Helen Buniak revealed her 96-year-old mother’s home was ‘ordered’ to admit a coronavirus patient from hospital ‘against their wishes’ on April 8.
She alleged that the Birchwood Residential Care Home, in Ilford, was told it was ‘Government policy’.
The discharged patient only stayed in the facility for one day before they were re-admitted to hospital, Ms Buniak claimed.
She told MailOnline: ‘How shocking and completely reckless to allow the virus to enter into a care home that was clear of the virus.
‘However much the staff did their best to isolate the patient, there is still a serious risk that the virus could spread and cause multiple deaths.’
Ms Buniak said it seemed like the lives of older people in care homes are ‘invisible’ and argued: ‘The Government is willing to sacrifice them.’
‘The Government’s so called policy to shield those most vulnerable clearly does not apply to the elderly in care homes.’
The Birchwood care home, which looks after around 40 elderly patients, is one of dozens to have limited routine visits from family members.
Another MailOnline reader revealed her elderly dementia-stricken mother was discharged to a care home, without checking with her.
Her mother, of Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, was stuck in hospital because health officials had yet to find a care package for her.
She told MailOnline: ‘Due to the COVID-19 outbreak most care homes in Hereford with places refused to take her so she was there a while.
‘The hospital were getting really annoyed because they wanted her out as soon as possible and the bed freed up.
‘On Sunday (April 12) they discharged her to a care home in Worcestershire without consulting me or checking the home could meet her complex needs.’
Stanley Park care home in Stanley after thirteen residents died after displaying coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms
The woman – who wanted to remain anonymous – added: ‘She arrived with a DNR, which said do not transfer back to hospital if she contracts COVID-19.
‘My mother has worked all her life and paid into the NHS they do not have the right to sign her death warrant because she’s old and has dementia.
‘If my mum gets sick with COVID-19 she will be left to die and the hospital will refuse to admit her because the DNR will be in her notes.’
NHS trusts are trying to discharge patients who do not need round-the-clock care to free up capacity for the expected surge in COVID-19 cases.
But care home managers are refusing to accept elderly people over fears they might bring the virus into the homes.
Under guidance issued by the government last week, testing is not mandatory for discharged patients.
David Steedman, the manager of Arlington House care home in Sussex, admitted he had five empty rooms but refused to take in people discharged from hospitals.
He said it would be ‘madness’ to expose residents and staff to the risk of infection, the Guardian reports.
Last week the Government promised every social care provider in the country would receive deliveries of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks.
Mr Steedman told the paper: ‘The personal protective equipment issued for staff is laughable.
‘These masks, as well as having an expiry date of 2016, are the sort of flimsy, paper thing that dentists wear with gaps all round the edges.
‘The instructions say they should be used if a resident has symptoms of the virus or actually has it. But these masks are completely useless in those situations.’
Piers (left) slammed the minister (right) for laughing during the interview as he asked about care home deaths
She said her laughter was a reaction to him showing her the front page of the newspaper, when she was unable to see him due to not having a screen visible showing the GMB host.
Avice Howarth’s mother, who was living in a care home. passed away on April 10
It comes after it was warned last night that a ‘hidden epidemic’ of coronavirus in care homes may have cost 4,000 lives. Experts believe deaths are being hugely under-reported because of a lack of testing.
GPs are also sometimes reluctant to write COVID-19 on death certificates and figures from care homes are not included in the official daily toll.
Jane Rudge’s mother is a resident at Hopwood Court care home in Alvechurch, Worcestershire. The 94-year-old is now ill, with suspected COVID-19
The latest report from the Office for National Statistics says the virus killed 217 care home residents in England and Wales up to April 3.
But industry figures say the true count is much higher – potentially 4,000 since the outbreak started.
One leading statistician the numbers were being underestimated because GPs were unwilling to record ‘covid’ on death certificates if they hadn’t seen the patient.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, who is based at the Faculty of Mathematics at Cambridge University, highlighted emergency laws which came into force last month which enable doctors to certify deaths without being in physical attendance.
Under the Government’s Coronavirus Act, which was passed on March 25, doctors are allowed to carry out the process of death registration over-the-phone.
The new powers were intended to reduce the likelihood of GPs contracting the infection but Sir David said the upshot was that they were less inclined to record the virus as the cause of death.
Other organisations including the Alzheimer’s Society and Care England, the main representative body for social care organisations, said the death toll was being hugely underplayed by the lack of tests.
Currently only hospital patients and some frontline staff are being tested for the virus, although the Government hopes to roll this out to other key workers and the wider public if the capacity increases
Sir David said: ‘Less than 10 per cent of deaths are being coded for covid deaths outside hospitals. That’s at home, or in care homes.
‘Under a new regulation, doctors do not actually have to see a patient to register their deaths now. They can do it over the phone with a description of their symptoms.
‘I could understand many doctors or GPs not being willing to put covid on a death certificate when they’ve neither had a test, nor seen the patient.
‘Unfortunately, we don’t seem to know yet how many of these extra deaths are being registered without even seeing the patient. That seems to me very important to have that piece of information.’
Speaking to the BBC’s World At One, he added: ‘There are suggestions going around that doctors are kind of being encouraged not to put covid on the death certificate.’
He did not explain who was pressuring doctors not to report the virus on the death certificates or why.
Debbie Cholwill said her mother (pictured) passed away on April 10. On Facebook, she wrote: ‘It is with deep sadness that I am putting this message on sadly after six years of my mum being in a care home with dementia she sadly passed away last night, after testing positive for Coronavirus’
Elaine Shirt had to put her ‘lovely’ father Cyril Lawrence, 99, into respite in a care home after her mother was taken ill recently and went into hospital. Pictured, Mr Lawrence (front row, third from left) with Stan Mortensen (front row, sixth from left) at Blackpool in 1939
But medical professionals are urged not to record an illness as cause of death unless they are very sure.
Nick Stripe, head of the health analysis and life events division at the Office for National Statistics said: ‘It could be that the doctor certifying the death, to the best of their knowledge, is not sure enough that there is possibly covid involved to put it on the death certificate.
‘It’s dependent of the doctor, understanding the patient’s background and recent symptoms in terms of what in their medical opinion they put on the death certificate.’
Research by the London School of Economics over the weekend suggested that about half of coronavirus deaths in Europe were occurring in care homes.
In Belgium the figure was estimated to be 42 per cent, rising to 53 per cent in Italy and 57 per cent in Spain.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said the official figures were ‘airbrushing older people out like they didn’t matter’.
She added: ‘Any suggestion that these spiralling care home deaths are somehow inevitable would be utterly wrong, sounding suspiciously like an excuse for failings of national policy and practice.’
Christina McAnea, assistant general secretary of Unison which represents many care home staff said: ‘These figures are just the tip of the iceberg.
‘A comprehensive programme of testing of staff and the people they look after should start at once.
‘Without daily updates on the number of people dying in residential care and their own homes, it’s impossible to track the spread of the virus. Hospital deaths are only part of the picture.’
Campaigners and MPs warned yesterday of an ‘unfolding horror’ that could end up with tens of thousands of forgotten victims.
Ministers face urgent calls to get a grip and get virus tests for all staff and residents with symptoms, more protection gear and a Cabinet minister to deal with the crisis.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night pledged action on testing and is also expected to outline a plan to address the crisis in a social care strategy.
Care home operators complain they are being overlooked, with desperate short – ages of testing and staff safety equipment making it extremely hard to stop the disease ravaging their sites.
Care minister Helen Whately was blasted today for sniggering in a car crash TV interview about the ‘hidden epidemic’ of coronavirus in care homes.
She was taken to task by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain as he grilled her over a Mail exclusive that deaths in care facilities are being hugely under-reported.
Mrs Whately, 43, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, insisted that the Government has been working hard to tackle the crisis.
But Piers insisted she answer questions about deaths in care homes, telling her he expected her to be working hard.
He asked: ‘Is it true that 4,000 people have died in care home? Yes or no?’
The Social Care Minister then thanked him for acknowledging what the government is doing and said the work was ‘really important’.
Piers interrupted to say tell her that it was more important that 4,000 people have died, only for the Minister to start laughing.
The host said: ‘Why are you laughing? What do you find funny about this?’
She said: ‘I don’t think it’s funny in the slightest.’
He responded: ‘Well why do you keep laughing then? I’m not laughing at all,’ she said.
Piers replied: ‘I literally just asked you is it true that 4,000 elderly people have died in hosp and all you can do is laugh what’s the matter with you?’
As she continued to insist she wasn’t laughing and asked Piers not to suggest she had been, he said: ‘We literally just saw you.’
But she said her laughter was a reaction to him showing her the front page of the newspaper, when she was unable to see him due to not having a screen visible showing the GMB host.
From fighting fit to losing his life in just two days: ‘Perfectly healthy’ ex-professional footballer, 99, succumbs to coronavirus after health bosses ORDERED his care home to take in stricken patients and it rampaged through the residents
A ‘perfectly healthy’ former professional footballer has died from coronavirus after health bosses ordered his care hoe to take in untested hospital patients.
Cyril Lawrence, 99, passed away from the infection last night at Royal Bolton Hospital six weeks before his 100th birthday.
The ex-Blackpool, Rochdale and Wrexham winger caught the virus at a care home which was forced to take in hospital patients following the Government’s order for the NHS to drastically free up hospital beds.
His daughter Elaine Shirt told MailOnline she put her father in a care home after her mother was taken ill recently and went into hospital.
Ms Shirt said her parents were due to return home when the care home her father was in went into lockdown, so he remained there.
She said she was now ‘totally heartbroken’ and supporting her mother.
Ms Shirt told MailOnline: ‘All was well until Good Friday. We had video calls with him, he looked really well and on Sunday enjoyed his evening meal and even asked if could have had a little more. An hour later, an ambulance arrived and he was taken into hospital.
Cyril Lawrence, 99, died from coronavirus after health bosses ordered his care hoe to take in untested hospital patients
Legacy: Lawrence (front row, third from left) with Stan Mortensen (front row, sixth from left) at Blackpool FC in 1939
‘I then tried contacting the hospital and at 4am a lovely Consultant phoned to say my dad was extremely poorly. It was a big shock. He was put on oxygen, fluids and antibiotics and swabs for the virus taken.
‘At 8pm on Monday night my mum and I said goodbye to my dad. Mum told him as I did how much he was loved. He couldn’t speak but we were told he could hear us.
‘It was heartbreaking and the two lovely nurses wearing masks and gloves broke down crying with us.
‘I never in a million years thought this would happen at the end of life. I’m totally heartbroken supporting my mum.
‘My mum will be 100 on June 3, and dad 100 on the 12th. To be cruelly taken like this is just so very sad.’
When football last ground to a halt during World War II, Cyril Lawrence was a teenager on the verge of a breakthrough into the Blackpool team.
They were top of Division One, having started the new season with three wins under Joe Smith, the manager who would preside over a golden post-war era when Stanley Matthews dazzled on the wing.
Salford-born Lawrence was an inside forward in the ambitious ranks of young professionals alongside players such as Stan Mortensen, who went on to achieve legendary status at Bloomfield Road.
Lawrence (left) poses with Cllr Jim Fitzpatrick as Hyde celebrated 125 years in 2010
At 19, Lawrence lied about his age in order to register for national service before conscription was introduced.
‘I spent my childhood alongside the Salford docks,’ he told The Mail last month. ‘And I decided the Navy was to be my new life so I volunteered.’
As he completed his military training he was able to represent Blackpool in a wartime fixture against Bolton in December 1939 and returned for another game, while on leave, against Stockport in September 1943.
Wartime football was encouraged to lift morale, although the size of the crowds was strictly limited and some games had to be abandoned amid air raids.
Lawrence played several times for Hyde United before he was deployed on the brand new battleship HMS King George V, assigned to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
He would spend more than five years serving on the ship, which performed an active combat role and witnessed some of the most historic episodes of the war, including the pursuit and sinking of the Bismarck and the surrender of Japan.
Lawrence played several times for Hyde United before he was deployed on the brand new battleship HMS King George V
Lawrence’s early career at sea was spent on the Arctic convoys delivering aid and essential supplies to the Soviet Union.
‘He would tell us how he’d cover his face and hands with cooking fat from the galley to protect against the bitter cold before going out on deck to cut the ice from the cables,’ says daughter Elaine. ‘He would be locked into his gun turret from the outside because, if the ship went down, the air inside the watertight turrets would help to keep it afloat.’
On a convoy bound for the northern Soviet ports in dense fog in May 1942, the battleship collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi, which was cut in two and sank with the loss of 49 lives.
‘We were zigzagging to avoid submarines,’ he recalled in an article about life on the King George V. ‘The weather was foul and visibility poor when we came in contact with the Punjabi. It was tragic. One of the survivors was the ship’s cat. She was named Madame Punjabi.
‘She remained on board for many years until we reached Sydney and it was thought she abandoned the KGV for pastures new.’
Lawrence represented the Royal Navy at football, appearing in exhibition matches in Cairo and Alexandria and against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
His footballing prowess helped him around the custom for sailors to transfer to other ships during times of repair and refitting and he became the KGV’s longest- serving seaman.
When the ship was in Liverpool in 1944 being prepared for its redeployment to the Eastern Fleet, Lawrence married Claire who, like her husband, will be 100 in June. They are cared for these days by their daughters Elaine and Norma and their families.
HMS King George V ended its wartime service in the Pacific Ocean, involved in the allied invasion of Okinawa and the bombardment of Hamamatsu and sent to observe the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Lawrence was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered, aboard the USS Missouri.
The Americans borrowed the table and chairs for the signing ceremony from the wardroom of the KGV.
He was despatched onshore to help collect prisoners of war and formed part of the guard of honour when the British Embassy in Tokyo was reopened.
It was Christmas 1945 when he left the KGV for the last time and re-signed for Blackpool two months later on a deal worth £5 a week with a £3 bonus when he made the first team.
His football had suffered at the expense of his military service, however, unlike other players stationed at home who were able to maintain a higher level of football throughout the war.
He found he could not break into Smith’s excellent side, who would go on to reach the FA Cup final three times in six years, winning the trophy in 1953 and finishing runners up in Division One behind Manchester United’s Busby Babes in 1956.
Lawrence’s playing career was over by the time Matthews and Mortensen produced their heroics at Wembley.
He left Blackpool for Rochdale and then moved on to Wrexham where he suffered a serious knee injury at the age of 31, a sad landmark which provokes an amusing family story.
‘Claire did not care for football and had never seen him play but she went on this occasion,’ says son-in-law Rod. ‘Cyril gave her the ticket and told her to wait in her seat for half an hour after the match and he would collect her and they would go to the bar.
‘More than an hour after the match and she was still sitting in her seat when someone came over to ask what she was doing.
‘She said she was waiting for her husband. ‘Cyril Lawrence?’ they asked. ‘He was injured in the first half. He’s been taken to hospital’.’
It would be six months before he was out of hospital and walking again.
‘He just got on with it,’ says Elaine. ‘I think his generation did just get on with things. They were a hardy lot.’
Lawrence worked as a plumber and glazier and, although he became a keen follower of rugby league, he has always stayed in contact with his former football clubs.
Families reveal harrowing stories of loved ones being abandoned to die on their own in care homes as managers ban goodbye visits
The deepening crisis unfolding in Britain’s care homes amid the coronavirus crisis was laid bare today as families revealed their harrowing stories of loved ones being abandoned to die.
Grieving relatives told MailOnline how elderly family members were not admitted to hospital and refused visits by GPs, who have been accused of being ‘ageist’ and avoiding care homes.
Donna Millan’s 73-year-old mother, who lived in a nursing home, died on April 9 with COVID-19 symptoms. But she was never swabbed for the killer infection – despite repeated pleas from her family.
Ms Millan told MailOnline: ‘We believe my mum would not have contracted COVID-19 and would still be alive had things been managed better.’
And Elaine Shirt had to put her father Cyril Lawrence, 99, into respite in a care home after her mother was taken ill recently and needed hospital care.
Left, Cyril Lawrence, 99,is now in hospital after falling ill at a care home. Right, Carole Foster, 77, passed away last Wednesday at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, just one day after being admitted
Debbie Cholwill said her mother, who had dementia and was living in a care home, passed away on April 10 after testing positive for coronavirus
But by the time her mother was sent home, Ms Shirt’s father, a former footballer for Blackpool FC, had contracted coronavirus. He is now fighting for his life in hospital.
The Royal College of GPs has already urged staff to keep face-to-face visits to a ‘minimum’ amid the coronavirus crisis. But it says ‘appropriate arrangements’ should be made for patients in care homes. It has been claimed that some GPs are refusing to send elderly patients – who would be put to the back of the queue for critical care because of their frailty – to hospital.
Stricken family members who have lost loved ones to coronavirus in care homes have laid bare the devastating reality of the deepening crisis.
Chris Schmid told MailOnline his great aunt Isabel Francis, 94, passed away in Fieldway care home in Mitcham, South London on Friday, April 10
Ms Millan told MailOnline: ‘[My mother] had been mostly unresponsive for almost a week. She was not given IV for fluids and was kept in the care home as they considered moving her too distressing.
‘Some of the residents were swabbed after showing symptoms on the Monday and Tuesday last week, and four residents and a carer were confirmed positive.
‘My mum wasn’t swabbed despite requests, we were told Public Health wouldn’t swab there again as there were already confirmed cases. There were, and are, lots of suspected cases there and all residents are being kept in isolation.
‘My mum had dementia but was otherwise healthy. We heard rumours about testing and were only told of the swabbing then confirmed cases when I asked.
‘The nursing staff did as they could and said Public Health were discouraging elderly people in care from being taken to hospital.’
Debbie Cholwill said her mother passed away on April 10.
On Facebook, she wrote: ‘It is with deep sadness that I am putting this message on sadly after six years of my mum being in a care home with dementia she sadly passed away last night, after testing positive for Coronavirus.
‘What makes it more difficult to except we could not be with her, because of the lock down, I now have to live with the guilt of her dying alone, I know she is at peace now and suffering no more.
Mark Gordon fears his mother Susan (above), a 76-year-old terminally-ill cancer patient, is too weak to fight off coronavirus after contracting the infection while at a Tayside care home. He claims staff did not use PPE when dealing with patients
‘I just hold her in my heart and treasure the memories I have of a wonderful mum, nan, and great great grandmother RIP and fly high love you mum.’
One woman on Twitter – called Lydia – wrote: ‘My mum is in a care home. She has been very poorly but the GP won’t go and see her as they are avoiding going into care homes.’
Chris Schmid told MailOnline his great aunt Isabel Francis, 94, passed away in Fieldway care home in Mitcham, South London on Friday, April 10.
He said: ‘The official cause of death has been recorded as a stroke however we would like to have her body tested for COVID-19.’
Mr Schmid said his mother, ‘raised concerns about the possibility of coronavirus due to Isabel’s rapid deterioration in health.’
Mrs Francis had been a resident at the £1,000-a-week care home since September 2018.
Mr Schmid said added: ‘I visited care home last week and can confirm staff are not wearing PPE. We are not aware of any other residents diagnosed with COVID-19 however no one is being tested.’
Left, George Hillhouse’s 74-year-old mother, Helen Smith, died at Almond Court care home in Drumchapel on Saturday. Right, Avice Howarth’s mother, who was living in a care home. passed away on April 10
Elaine Shirt had to put her ‘lovely’ father Cyril Lawrence, 99, into respite in a care home after her mother was taken ill recently and went into hospital.
Ms Shirt said her parents were due to return home when the care home her father was in went into lockdown, so he remained there. But he is now fighting for his life after falling ill over the weekend.
Aged 19, in 1939, Mr Lawrence lied about his age in order to register for national service before conscription was introduced.
A budding football player who was on the verge of signing for Blackpool United, he was deployed on the brand new battleship HMS King George V, assigned to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
He spent more than five years serving on the ship, which performed an active combat role and witnessed some of the most historic episodes of the war, including the pursuit and sinking of the Bismarck and the surrender of Japan.
Ms Shirt told MailOnline: ‘All was well until Good Friday. We had video calls with him, he looked really well and on Sunday enjoyed his evening meal and even asked if could have had a little more. An hour later, an ambulance arrived and he was taken into hospital.
‘I then tried contacting the hospital and at 4am a lovely Consultant phoned to say my dad was extremely poorly. It was a big shock. He was put on oxygen, fluids and antibiotics and swabs for the virus taken.
Debbie Cholwill said her mother (pictured) passed away on April 10. On Facebook, she wrote: ‘It is with deep sadness that I am putting this message on sadly after six years of my mum being in a care home with dementia she sadly passed away last night, after testing positive for Coronavirus’
‘At 8pm last night my mum and I said goodbye to my dad. Mun told him as I did how much he was loved. He couldn’t speak but we were told he could hear us. It was heartbreaking and the two lovely nurses wearing masks and gloves broke down crying with us.
‘I never in a million years thought this would happen at the end of life. My dad is battling on but it’s just a question of time now.
‘Dad is the longest surviving player of Blackpool Rochdale and Wrexham football clubs.
‘He’s a battler and I know he’s doing his utmost to beat this but I know he won’t. I’m waiting totally heartbroken supporting my mum.
‘My mum will be 100 on June 3, and dad 100 on the 12th. To be cruelly taken like this is just so very sad.’
Mr Lawrence’s early career at sea was spent on the Arctic convoys delivering aid and essential supplies to the Soviet Union.
He represented the Royal Navy at football, appearing in exhibition matches in Cairo and Alexandria and against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Avice Howarth’s mother passed away on April 10.
Posting on Facebook, Avice wrote: ‘My mum passed away in a care home without any off her family at her side, she’d been ill but it was the corona virus that finally took her. RIP mum.’
Trisha Lynch paid an emotional tribute to her brother, who died in a nursing home yesterday morning.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘Please pray for my brother who passed away earlier this morning.
‘The nursing home where he was in, lost three patients during the night. I’m totally heartbroken. May he Rest In Peace.’
Jane Rudge’s mother, Margaret Guise, is a resident at Hopwood Court care home in Alvechurch, Worcestershire.
She said: ‘They have had their first confirmed corona resident in the last few days after their transfer to hospital.
‘I understand several of the other residents, including my 94-year-old mother, are now ill and the manager would like all staff and residents to be tested but is receiving no help at all from any of the public bodies – CCG, PHE, Council, etc.
‘This is becoming a dire situation that needs to be addressed urgently.
‘There has been no attempt to test, and the manager cannot find anyone who will offer this. The staff are being amazing but it is a terrible burden for them to carry on working in such conditions.’
The daughter of a pensioner who died after contracting coronavirus has raised concerns about her care.
Carole Foster passed away last Wednesday at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, just one day after being admitted.
The 77-year-old had been admitted there from Rochester Care Home.
Her daughter Tracey Bonfield told Kent Online she was called by a worker at the home and told her mother was unwell with a suspected urine infection.
Ms Bonfield said: ‘She then said, ‘I’m going to be really honest. We had residents who went to hospital with Covid-19 and we think she has got it’.’