Hundreds of people went from hospital into care homes without a Covid test
NEW data has revealed the parts of Wales which discharged the most people into care homes without a test.
Between March 1 and the end of May, 2,355 people were discharged from Welsh hospitals into care homes. Of them, only approximately 700 were tested for the virus.
When asked, Cardiff and Vale did not supply the number of people who were discharged but not tested.
Leading experts and an Echo investigation found that hospital discharges are one of the principal ways that the virus was able to enter Welsh care settings, resulting in the deaths of more than 700 people.
It was not until April 29 that the Welsh Government made it mandatory in Wales that people being sent from hospitals into care homes should be routinely tested - two weeks after England.
A series of Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs) has found that one health board only tested 6.8% of all hospital discharges between March 1 and May 31.
Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board tested 33 of 488 people it discharged into care homes for the virus during that period. This included a month where every hospital to care setting discharge had to be tested.
This statistic is made all the more stark because no other health board tested less than 29% with some testing as many as 60%. The health board is currently the centre of the outbreak that’s centered on Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
Last week our sister paper the Western Mail broke the story of Margaret Blaylock, 83, who was discharged without a test into her daughter’s care even though the hospital knew she had been exposed to someone with the virus. No test was taken. Margaret was later readmitted and died of the virus.
The health board had previously failed to report 85 coronavirus deaths because they were not using the correct electronic system.
How did the other health boards perform?
■ Hywel Dda: 142 tested of 356 discharges – 40%;
■ Swansea Bay: 139 tested of 319 discharges – 44%;
■ Aneurin Bevan: 256 tested of 414 discharges – 62%;
■ Cwm Taf: 104 tested out of 309 discharges – 34%;
■ Powys: 26 tested out of 89 discharges – 29%;
■ Cardiff and Vale: 380 discharges but the health board said it would take them too long to work out how many were tested.
What is clear from the seven FOIs is how fragmented the Welsh NHS is. Cardiff and Vale were not able to produce the figure for how many people were tested because it would have taken too long to work out. Yet other, larger health boards were able to do so easily.
Aneurin Bevan and Swansea Bay health boards were able to tell us how many people were returning to their old home and how many went to new ones – all of the others said they didn’t record it.
Powys and Aneurin Bevan revealed how many residents subsequently died of the virus, but the others said they didn’t record this information.
It is clear that all the health boards have different systems which makes it hard to see any wider Wales perspective or easily share data.
In response to the FOI a Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board spokeswoman said: “The health board have followed Welsh Government guidance throughout the course of the pandemic.”
The FOIs were sent to the Echo by Rhondda Cynon Taf councillor Mike Powell.