The care sector has been struggling for years due to unfortunate factors like an unfair stigma, increased staffing costs and a high turnover rate. Sadly, 2020 has presented it with yet another terrible challenge: the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the unforeseen spread of coronavirus has had a devastating impact on several industries and aspects of life, care homes seem to have been paying the highest price, so far.
Why Covid-19 Has Had Such a Bad Impact on Care Homes
Scientists and virologists are still discovering new features and consequences of this virus. However, one of the things that the World Health Organization has made clear since the start of the pandemic is that people over 60 years old and those with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk from it. Obviously, both categories match the profile of care home residents.
Another factor involved the very nature of care facilities and the work involved. These elderly people all live within the same buildings and their carers are required to have close physical contact with them. This made the spread and transmission of COVID-19 among staff and residents much more likely than in other types of work environments where social distancing could be implemented.
However, while the initial situation wasn’t the most favourable, it now seems clearer and clearer that what turned care homes into COVID-19 warzones was the lack of PPE and consistent guidance.
After the National Risk Register identified a flu-like pandemic as the most likely disaster to happen in the near future, the government set out plans to tackle this possibility. In 2012, they distributed the Health and Social Care Influenza Pandemic Preparedness and Response which became the main reference for the health & social care sector up until February 2020.
Unfortunately, that’s when care homes started receiving mixed messages. At the start of March, the government suggested that “it remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected,” adding that there was no need for them to do anything differently at present.
That obviously went against everything that the National Risk Register recommended. It also resulted in a lack of PPE for care home staff and residents since it wasn’t deemed necessary for them.
Although that guidance was withdrawn on 13th March, the virus had already entered most care homes by then.
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The Impact of Covid-19 in Care Homes
Because of the combination of all those factors, coronavirus has sadly resulted in the death of over 19,300 care home residents so far, with 84.1% of these cases being classified as confirmed COVID-19 fatalities and 15.9% as suspected.
From the second half of April, hospital deaths started to decline. However, the situation was different in care homes. On the week ending on 24th April, their COVID-19 deaths peaked at 3,631. They then began to decline gradually in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland but rose again in Wales towards the end of June.
As well as elderly residents, this pandemic has had a devastating impact on care workers. ONS data revealed that, when adjusted for sex and age, they had twice the rate of COVID-19 deaths than the general population.
As a result, this has worsened the situation of already struggling care homes. A Channel 5 News and National Care Association survey found that the number of empty beds had almost doubled compared to the same point last year. While occupancy levels stood at 92% in June 2019, they’re now down to 81%.
What is Being Done to Help Struggling Care Homes
In May, the Government announced a new help package of £600m to help care homes tackle infections and reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in their facilities.
In addition to the financial help already provided to the adult social care sector over the last few months, this new fund is intended to help them cover the costs faced when implementing pivotal safety measures and specialised training.
What You Can Do to Improve the Situation in Your Care Home
While following these guidelines and recommended procedures might seem enough, it’s not, especially if you’re actively trying to fill your vacant beds.
Now more than ever it’s vital to reassure residents and families that you’re actually taking all these precautions.
This must be done explicitly by updating your website and sending detailed communications via email or print.
It’s also important to invest in regular training to ensure that your staff is fully equipped to deal with the current pandemic, for example by taking a Coronavirus awareness and infection control online course.
Summary
While it’s heartbreaking to see how badly the UK social care sector was affected by this pandemic, the latest data look promising and we sincerely hope that the combination of this help package and suitable training will help care homes recover faster.
