REVEALED: Full scale of tragedy as Covid tore through nation’s care homes

39,265 residents killed by corona in just one year 21 sites lost 30 or more to the rampaging virus

THE full scale of the pandemic’s devastation on care homes was laid bare yesterday as figures showed the virus killed more than 39,000 residents.

Over half of the deaths occurred in the first three months of the crisis.

Some 152 care homes across England recorded deaths of at least 20 residents, the Care Quality Commission revealed.

These included 21 homes where 30 or more residents lost their lives to the virus.

The highest death toll was reported by the Bedford Care Home in Leigh, Wigan, which is run by Advinia Healthcare, where 44 residents died with Covid.

Charities described the numbers as ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘devastating’, and said they underscored the Government’s ‘tragic failures’ to protect care homes.

Kate Terroni, the CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care, said ‘every number represents a life lost’ adding: ‘Families, friends and those who cared for them who are having to face the sadness and consequences of their death.’

The figures show there were 39,265 deaths reported by homes between April 10, 2020, and March 31, 2021. This included 18,329 deaths recorded in the first three months of the pandemic, between April and the end of June last year.

Responding to the data, the Health Foundation said the Government’s response to the crisis had been ‘too little, too late’.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock had insisted in spring last year that officials had ‘thrown a protective ring around our care homes’ by giving them adequate support and resources.

But his claims were quickly rebuffed by care home providers, who warned that thousands of residents were dying of the virus due to a lack of testing and insufficient personal protection equipment.

The crisis was made worse as struggling hospitals discharged thousands of elderly patients into care homes without testing them in a rush to free up beds.

Tragically, many of these patients had Covid and seeded outbreaks in the care homes which received them. The CQC’s figures show that deaths of care home residents were significantly lower in the second wave – even though overall case numbers were far higher – with 13,343 recorded between January and March 2021.

James White, head of public affairs and campaigns at the Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘At the start of the pandemic, we saw multiple failures impacting care homes.

‘As Covid-19 spread in the local community, we saw a lack of protection for care homes, which is why we expressed significant concerns early on about hospital discharge into care homes, testing and PPE supplies. This heartbreaking new data shows the devastating and tragic consequences of those government failures.’

Hugh Alderwick, head of policy at the Health Foundation thinktank, said the data exposed the ‘grim toll’ of the pandemic on care homes. ‘Central Government support for social care during the pandemic was often too little, too late, particularly during the first wave,’ he added.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, the largest representative body for care providers said: ‘Care homes have been right at the front line of this dreadful pandemic.

‘My thoughts go out to all those bereaved relatives as well as those dedicated staff who have been on high alert often working around the clock with no end in sight as well as all bereaved relatives. Every death is a tragedy and it would be highly disrespectful if lessons were not learned at every level.’

Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman at the National Care Association, which represents small and medium-sized care home providers, added: ‘It is important to point out that this data will not reflect the quality of care provided.

‘The data highlights that a highly infectious virus, which was devastating the nation as a whole, impact on the most vulnerable members of our communities.’

The figures show that care homes in the North West were hardest hit by the first wave, with 3,081 deaths recorded between April and June 2020. But it was the South East which was worst affected by the second wave, with 3,348 deaths between January and March 2021. The CQC stressed that the providers recording the highest number of deaths tended to be larger organisations.

The watchdog also pointed out that the residents did not necessarily catch Covid in their care homes. They might have been admitted to hospital with a broken hip, for example, and contracted the virus on the ward.

Bedford Care Home, which recorded 44 deaths over the 12 months, has approximately 180 beds. Calway House in Taunton, Somerset, run by Somerset Care, reported 41 deaths, and is also described as a ‘large’ home with 91 beds.

A spokesman for the care home said they were ‘devastated at the loss of our much-loved residents’ and ‘regarded them as family.’

The Peaker Park Care Village in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, run by Prime Life, reported 38 deaths. It provides accommodation for up to 137 residents.

Several of the homes with the highest number of deaths were specialised ‘Nightingale’ care homes which provided isolation wards for coronavirus patients discharged from hospital who were not well enough to go to their homes. They include the Gorsey Clough nursing home in Tottington in Bury, Greater Manchester, which recorded 33 deaths.

The CQC’s figures refer to death notifications from care home managers after a resident has died from Covid-19. They are slightly different to the data from the Office for National Statistics which has reported approximately 42,000 care home deaths, covering an earlier time period and relating to information on death certificates.

Alongside the data on Covid death notifications, the CQC conducted 5,577 inspections of adult care providers between April 10, 2020 and March 31, 2021.

The watchdog said that complaints, whistleblowers and the absence of a registered manager were more likely to indicate poor care than death notifications.

Ms Terroni said: ‘We have a duty to be transparent and to act in the public interest, and we made a commitment to publish data at this level, but only once we felt able to do so as accurately and safely as possible given the complexity and sensitivity of the data.

‘In doing so, we aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of the impact of Covid-19 on care homes, the people living in them and their families. It is important to be clear, however, that although this data relates to deaths of people who were care home residents, many of them did not die in or contract Covid-19 in a care home.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘Throughout the pandemic we have done all we can to protect vulnerable people in adult social care. We have provided billions of pounds to support the sector, including on infection and prevention control measures, free PPE, priority vaccinations and additional testing.’

‘Support was too little, too late’

‘Saw residents as family’