Care home deaths ‘scandal’ as number dying of Covid-19 rises

Calls for a public inquiry into the “scandal” of Covid-19 deaths in care homes intensified this week as the number of residents dying across Kent increased in latest figures.

New statistics released on Tuesday showed 31 more people lost their lives to the virus in the county’s care homes in the week leading up to May 15 - two more than in the previous seven days.

It brings the total of such deaths in Kent and Medway to 292 - more than a quarter of the 1,107 recorded by the Office for National Statistics.

Thanet has reported the most, with 42, while 35 have been registered in both Maidstone and Ashford.

County councillor Barry Lewis wants questions answered about the decision not to “shield” elderly people from Covid-19 sooner and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for care home staff.

He was speaking less than seven days after it was revealed 17 people died at a residential home on his patch in Cliftonville, near Margate.

Cllr Lewis described the deaths in care homes as a “scandal” and said: “Questions need to be asked in order to learn from these mistakes in the future.

“We have a right to know these answers.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week claimed the Government

had put a “protective ring” around care homes amid the crisis as he defended Whitehall’s record during a Downing Street daily news briefing.

More than 11,000 people have died from coronavirus in care homes across the UK.

Under any inquiry, Cllr Lewis says questions should be asked about the decision to send hospital patients back to care homes before being tested.

He added: “Thousands of people have died in care homes Was it possible for them to be treated in hospitals with intensive care equipment rather than remaining in the homes?”

Kent County Council (KCC) has delivered about 2.4million items of PPE to local key workers over the last two months, including gloves, aprons, hand sanitisers and masks.

County Hall has spent in the region of £7million on the equipment from its Covid-19 emergency budget, which has included about £67 million of Government grant cash.

On May 1, KCC leader Roger Gough (Con) said: “We will not let up in our focus to procure and deliver supplies to support the safe provision of services to the most vulnerable people in the county.”

However, KCC’s health and overview scrutiny committee chairman, Cllr Paul Bartlett (Con), said there should be a probe into Kent’s handling of the coronavirus in the near future.

He recently said: “There is some discussion that there could be a further spike in October and November.

“It’s critical that we learn all the lessons we can from the current experience and have a clear plan in place for any potential repetition.

“Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an example where things have not gone as well as they should.”

At least 17 people have died at Grosvenor Court care home alone; (Right) Cllr Barry Lewis