Care home forced to close after 15 residents died of coronavirus

A care home that was forced to close after 15 residents died of coronavirus has claimed that staff were ‘pressured’ to take untested patients to ‘free up hospital beds’.  

Temple Court in Kettering, Northants, was believed to be Covid-free before the NHS admissions but it has been forced to shut after staff fell ill.

A source said the facility took in 15 NHS patients in March from the town’s hospital who were not existing residents at the home.

The insider told The Sunday People: ‘It’s a massive scandal. The hospitals pressured care homes into taking patients despite not having a clue if they had coronavirus or not.’ 

Between March 28 and May 1, 15 people died, five with Covid-19, seven suspected of having it, and three of unknown causes. Ten of those who died were NHS patients. 

Until April 16, Government guidelines said patients should be released into care homes even if they had tested positive for covid-19, or without any test at all, a move MPs said ‘beggars belief’. 

Some 12,526 residents have died from coronavirus according to official figures – more than a third of the total death toll – but the true figure could be higher than 22,000.  

It is understood a 16th resident, a woman aged 87, was admitted to intensive care after testing positive for the virus.

It is thought the home’s 12 staff were all signed off with coronavirus symptoms after the NHS patients arrived.

Nine tested positive for coronavirus and agency workers had to be called in to run the home. 

Remaining residents were moved to new facilities on Friday because of care concerns.

The source added: ‘Temple Court went from virus-free on March 19 to 15 dead by May 1. Nobody had been tested, the hospital just wanted them out. That was the guidance from the top.

‘Every other morning another staff member went down. Soon enough they were running without a manager, or an assistant, and then no staff at all. They had to bring in agency workers in, and the residents weren’t getting the care they needed.’

Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of the National Care Association, said the fact that the care provider felt compelled to take untested discharges into the service highlighted the perilous position the sector was put under. 

Minster Care, which runs Temple Court, declined to comment on the whistleblower claims but said it was left in an ‘extremely challenging position’.  

A spokesperson said that a large number of staff, including the manager, were absent and they were disproportionately reliant on agency staff.

They added that the management team has now largely returned and they hope to be in a position to once again provide the highest standard of care. 

It comes as:  

• Britain announces 468 more coronavirus deaths on the first Saturday since lockdown was eased – taking the country’s total fatalities to 34,466; 
• Scuffles between police and anti-lockdown protestors have broken out in Hyde Park and across the UK;
• The row between ministers and teachers unions intensified after Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield said that schools had to be reopened as quickly as possible; 
• Public Health England could face the axe after Boris Johnson told a meeting of 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs that he he was planning a review of ‘a number of institutions’ once coronavirus is beaten back; 
• Experts from King’s College London have suggested that one in three patients who fall severely ill with coronavirus develop deadly blood clots that trigger heart attacks, strokes and organ failure; 
• NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens said that medics are still treating around 9,000 coronavirus patients a day in England, down from 19,000 at the infection’s peak in April;
• The University of Nottingham has suggested that coronavirus cases fell dramatically after the sunniest April on record, with strong UV light killing the virus and vitamin D strengthening the immune system. 

Yesterday grieving relatives told of their ‘agony and anger’ at losing elderly loved ones because of the care home strategy, which they say ‘abandoned an entire generation.’  

Even when carers tried to isolate recently discharged infected residents it still triggered outbreaks that tore through homes, claiming the lives of many more residents.

Despite this, the latest Government policy still allows for some patients who have tested positive for covid-19 in hospitals to be released to care homes, and:

• Outbreaks caused by this strategy meant some residents were forced to die alone and in agony because overwhelmed homes did not have enough staff to be with every victim as they passed away.
• In an appalling indignity, the surge in fatalities it created meant a death had to be confirmed by care staff ‘FaceTiming’ overstretched GPs who inspected a dead resident using their phone camera.
• One man said his mother was used as a ‘sacrificial lamb’ to free hospital beds after she was sent back to her care home despite having coronavirus.
• The equalities watchdog is considering whether human rights laws were breached by hospitals discharging older patients into care homes.

At St Nicholas Care Home in Bootle, Liverpool, 12 residents died after Aintree Hospital discharged two patients to it without testing them for coronavirus. One or two died almost every day over two weeks after the virus ripped through the home.

It had decided to lock down two weeks before official Government guidance to protect its 150 residents.

The policy kept it free of the virus until the hospital asked to discharge two untested patients into its empty beds between March 30 and April 4.

The home’s operations manager, Adrienne Gresty, said Aintree Hospital ‘wanted the bed – it was almost as if they weren’t bothered about the impact that would have’. 

Government guidelines published on April 2 encouraged care homes to accept discharged patients whether they were showing symptoms or not. Negative tests were not required prior to transfers or admissions from hospitals into care homes.

The policy was designed to free up beds in hospitals.

The Department of Health changed this strategy on April 16 to give more protection.

But the revised policy still states that some patients who have tested positive can continue to be sent to care homes.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said this week it was considering investigating the legality of discharging possibly infected patients from hospitals into care homes. 

Britain announces 468 more coronavirus deaths on the first Saturday since lockdown was eased – 30% fewer than the same day last week – taking the country’s total fatalities to 34,466

By Connor Boyd for MailOnline  

Britain today recorded another 468 coronavirus deaths on the first Saturday since the draconian lockdown was eased, taking the UK’s official fatality toll to 34,466. 

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson revealed the figures, which are down by 30 per cent from last Saturday’s 346, at tonight’s Downing Street press briefing, where he defended the Government’s controversial decision to reopen schools in England next month.

Ministers have faced fierce backlash from teaching unions and anxious parents who fear the outbreak will spiral out of control again if staff are not given sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and schools are not able to enforce social distancing.  

Mr Williamson said it was crucial that pupils returned to education so that the poorest children in society do not fall further behind, adding: ‘They will be the ones who will miss out on the opportunities. There are children from difficult or very unhappy homes for whom school is the happiest moment in their week and it’s also the safest place for them to be.’

The education secretary promised it would be a ‘cautious, phased return’, with smaller class sizes of no more than 15 and stringent cleaning protocols in place. The plan is for children in nursery and pre-school, Reception and Years 1 and 6 to go back on June 1. Pupils in Years 10 and 12 will be allowed to return on a limited basis, he said.

The Government does not provide a breakdown of how many deaths occurred in different settings, such as hospitals or care homes, but at least 181 of today’s fatalities definitely occurred in hospitals because NHS England reveals new deaths recorded by trusts every afternoon.    

Scotland (41), Wales (18) and Northern Ireland (four) do add care home deaths to their daily updates – but the nations do not provide a clear breakdown of how many fatalities occurred in each setting. 

It comes amid reports Public Health England could be axed after widespread criticism of its testing strategy, which has lagged behind the majority of countries in Europe. 

More than 240,500 people have been officially diagnosed with the viral disease but the true scale of Britain’s outbreak is considerably larger because of a controversial decision to abandon a widespread swabbing regime early on in the crisis. 

Government officials suggesting up to 6.6million are likely to have caught it in England alone. Prime Minister Boris Johnson informed a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives that he was planning a review of ‘a number of institutions’ once coronavirus is beaten back.