Covid battle for county’s care homes
24 RESIDENTS HAVE DIED DURING THE SECOND WAVE
MORE than 30 county care homes are battling Covid-19 outbreaks, Leicestershire County Council has revealed.
The number is “much lower than at the height of the first wave”, but numbers have been steadily increasing in the past few weeks, according to cabinet member for adult social care, Richard Blunt.
Since the start of the pandemic, 121 of Leicestershire’s 180 homes have had an outbreak – which is defined as at least two people testing positive – and some have had more than one outbreak.
Councillor Christine Radford said 130 care home residents died in the first two months of the pandemic. A further 24 have died during the second wave. “That is 24 too many,” she added.
Councillor Blunt has submitted a position statement to full council, saying: “Alongside dealing with the virus, preventing and containing infection in both residents and staff, and the sad loss of many residents, care homes have also been managing the increased costs of care and the increased numbers of vacancies across the sector.”
His statement also updated members on the council’s work to identify designated care homes that will take in and look after patients discharged from hospitals after a positive test result.
He said: “(The settings) are few in number as most care providers in the county are unable and unwilling to undertake this role due to infection risks to existing residents, insurance conditions, inability to attract adequate staffing and perceived reputational risk.”
Earlier in the pandemic, it was revealed that more than 500 patients were discharged from Leicester’s hospitals into care homes without coronavirus tests.
About 1,500 Covid care reviews still need to be completed by the county council.
Councillor Blunt’s statement added: “People who have received post-discharge support in the emergency period (March 19 to August 31) remain NHS funded.
“Reviews are under way to ensure that people have the most appropriate care for their recovery.
“Those not eligible for continued health funding following review will transfer to the local authority or become self-funding by March 31 next year. There are approximately 1,500 Covid-19 reviews to complete.
“These reviews will be carefully managed, recognising people will have been in receipt of free services for an extended period including those who would normally pay the full cost of their services.”
The statement also revealed that the impact of Covid-19 on adult social care has so far cost the authority about £13.5 million.