Alert over end to Covid tests before move into care home

TESTING people for Covid before they are discharged from hospital into care homes should continue, a body has said.

The Government has announced that routine testing in people without symptoms who are moving from hospital into care or hospices will end from April 1 “to align with the approach for other respiratory illnesses”.

But Care England said they wanted testing to continue. Chief executive Professor Martin Green said: “People who live in care homes are often living with many health conditions and are susceptible to infectious diseases.

“It is for this reason that we would like to see testing continue when patients are being discharged from hospital.

“If we see an end to such testing, the risk of people coming from hospital with asymptomatic Covid and transmitting it to other residents could have serious consequences.”

The National Care Forum, a membership organisation for not-forprofit organisations in the care and support sector, warned that while it may be the right time to scale back routine testing “we must be careful not the throw away the vital learning and surveillance systems developed during this period”.

Health minister Maria Caulfield, in a written statement yesterday, said NHS trusts would have local discretion to reintroduce Covid testing “as clinically appropriate following risk assessment”.

Ms Caulfield said 70 per cent of all people aged over 65 living in England received a Covid-19 booster last autumn, while in care homes more than 80 per cent of residents received a booster.

She added: “Today, due to a combination of immunity acquired from natural infection or vaccination, Covid-19 is now a relatively mild disease for the vast majority of people.”

The National Care Forum said enhanced surveillance of a range of infections, including but not limited to Covid-19, “should be built into our public health system alongside mechanisms and resources to allow the rapid scaling-up of mass testing where particular threats are identified”.

The Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, warned against becoming complacent about the threat of Covid to the most vulnerable.

Its chairman Mike Padgham said: “As care providers we must remain vigilant – as we must for all other viruses and infections that can pose a threat in care settings.

“I think we must also be ready to respond locally if circumstances change and a local outbreak is reported.”