Care home staff tests target will be missed
THE Government is set to miss its target to test all care home workers for coronavirus by the beginning of June, with just 15 per cent of staff covered so far.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, pledged at the Downing Street briefing on May 15 to test residents and employees at all care homes in England.
However, only 10 per cent of care home staff have been tested for Covid-19 since the promise was made, with 62 per cent of homes having no staff tested at all up to May 27, according to the Data Analysis Bureau.
Researchers examined 12,407 staff from 650 homes across England, Wales and Scotland – and just 15 per cent had been tested since the start of the pandemic, six per cent of whom were tested between May 20 and May 27.
The Sunday Telegraph previously disclosed that the Government was on track to miss its target to test all care home staff and residents.
Simon Briscoe, director of the Data Analysis Bureau, said: “The rate of testing of care home staff has picked up in the last week but is still far too slow to get close to the target set by the Government. Testing of just one in 10 staff and residents is far below the rate demanded by industry bodies and targeted by the Government.”
Speaking on Friday, Prof Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said testing in care settings needed to be prioritised, and called for “proper guidance” for homes in relation to the NHS Test and Trace programme, launched in England the day before.
More than 12,000 people have died in care homes across England and Wales, according to the latest ONS figures, with the Government facing increasing criticism after Mr Hancock claimed a “protective ring” had been thrown around them from the start.
Christina McAnea, assistant general secretary at Unison, which represents carers, said: “These deaths show the Government’s failure to support those in society who are most in need of care. Staff looking after these residents have effectively been abandoned too. They’ve struggled with protective equipment shortages, testing delays and inadequate safety guidance.”
This week care providers warned they were planning to withhold funds from the Care Quality Commission, the watchdog for social care services, in protest over the handling of the crisis.
Several major providers said the regulator had gone “Awol” during the outbreak. The CQC charges up to £16,096 in registration fees per year depending on the size of the care home.
Providers are questioning why they should pay when fewer inspections were carried out. The watchdog itself has faced criticism over its response.