Agency staff spread coronavirus between care homes and PHE found out in April, leaked report reveals

AGENCY staff spread coronavirus between care homes in the early days of the pandemic, a leaked report has claimed. The Guardian claimed a leaked Public Health England study found workers who transmitted coronavirus across six care homes. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates In some cases, the agency staff […]

AGENCY staff spread coronavirus between care homes in the early days of the pandemic, a leaked report has claimed.

The Guardian claimed a leaked Public Health England study found workers who transmitted coronavirus across six care homes.

Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

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In some cases, the agency staff had been brought in to cover for staff who were self-isolating to prevent the vulnerable people they looked after from becoming infected.

The paper reported the study was conducted over the Easter weekend in April, but the details were only circulated to care home providers, councils and local directors of public health last week.

It comes after Matt Hancock gave out £600million of funding last week to stop care home workers going into multiple homes.

The workers will be compensated and paid to make sure they don’t lose out by stopping some work.

More than 22,000 care home residents are estimated to have died in England and Wales, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitting there had been “an appalling epidemic in care homes”.

It came as MPs grilled care home bosses on deaths within care homes.

Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England, told the Health Select Committee this morning that there WERE “cases of people….who were symptomatic discharged into care homes.”

And he added: “We should have been focusing on care homes from the start of this pandemic. The focus was on the NHS and support was withdrawn.”

He said that testing is improving but some people are still waiting up to ten days for a test.

“We need regular testing, 2-3 times a week, if we are to really get on top of this,” he stressed.

12,000 official deaths have been recorded from care homes so far – both inside and outside hospital.

Nearly four in ten care homes have reported outbreaks, fresh figures revealed yesterday.

And the UK death toll passed 41,500 yesterday.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive at the Health Foundation, said: “Today’s figures show that the number of COVID-19 related deaths in care homes in England and Wales are now falling.

“However, the number of weekly deaths in care homes from any cause remain significantly above the five-year average, with 2,247 excess deaths in the week ending 8 May. This is in contrast with hospitals where weekly deaths have returned to below the historic average. So far there have been 9,980 overall deaths related to COVID-19 in care homes.

“While no action plan could undo decades of political neglect, questions should be asked as to how many deaths could have been prevented had action been taken earlier. Reform is now critical.”

Everyone in care homes will be tested for the virus by the end of June, Mr Hancock said last week.

And anyone going from hospital into a home will also get a test.

However, this changed from the start of the pandemic, and many residents were sent back to homes after hospital spells, without knowing they were virus free.

Many care homes have banned visitors since March, but the staff working in care homes are feared to have played a big part in the spread of the bug.

Meanwhile, a furious blame game erupted today as MPs slammed the Government’s coronavirus testing as “inadequate” – but Public Health England pointed the finger at Matt Hancock.

A Science and Technology Committee inquiry found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening “when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'”.

The MPs on the Science and Technology Committee blasted PHE chiefs for the “unacceptable failure” to publish evidence to back up the decision.

In a letter to Boris Johnson the cross party MPs said that the decision left many, especially in care homes unable to be tested “when the spread of the virus was most rampant.”

They said: “The decision to pursue an approach of initially concentrating testing in a limited number of laboratories and to expand them gradually, rather than an approach of surging capacity through a large number of available public sector, research institute, university and private sector labs is one of the most consequential made during this crisis.”

The 19 page letter outlines ten key lessons the Government should learn from its experience of handling the first months of the pandemic.

They also call for further transparency over the scientific advice, and data, with distinction between science and policy decisions.

Therese Coffey this morning pointed the finger at the “wrong” science for contact tracing being stopped.

She told Sky News: “You can only make judgements based on the advice.
“If the science was wrong, the advice at the time was wrong, I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decisions.”

A DHSC spokesman said: “We are working around the clock to make sure care homes, and our frontline social care workforce, are getting the support they need to protect their residents and tackle coronavirus.

“Our help to care homes, which includes financial support, infection control training and supplies of PPE, has meant that two thirds of England’s care homes have had no outbreak at all.”

Meanwhile, an association of care homes in the north east has sent a legal warning to their local council over fears the sector could collapse without any additional support, it has been reported.

Sky News said that a letter had been sent from Care North East – which represents 21 care homes – to North Tyneside Council advising that if action was not taken to provide funding and support within five days the area’s care market will start to collapse.