A furious dispute erupted last night when it emerged care homes may again have to take in hospital patients to help the NHS cope with the coronavirus crisis.
Campaigners warn this may lead to a repeat of the ‘disaster’ last spring when infectious patients were sent to care homes and tens of thousands of deaths resulted.
Charities and care leaders say they have a ‘horrible sense of déjà -vu’ and it would be a ‘grave mistake’. But NHS bosses say they are running out of beds due to soaring virus admissions and desperately need to offload patients to the care sector.
‘We are now reaching the point where hospital beds are full, community beds are full, and community at-home services are also full,’ said Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers. What trust leaders are now trying to do is spare capacity in the care and nursing home sector.
NHS bosses say they are running out of beds due to soaring virus admissions and desperately need to offload patients to the care sector (Pictured: Staff in an intensive care ward in St George's Hospital in London)
‘They are in the middle of conversations with their care and nursing home colleagues to see if they can access that capacity.’
Mr Hopson said care homes were better placed to accept patients than Nightingale hospitals because they had more staff. He called on the Government to create financial incentives for care homes to take NHS patients.
He added: ‘There is, of course, no question of using this capacity for patients who could introduce Covid-19 infection risk into care homes or for patients requiring complex or specialist hospital care.’
Campaign groups are furious that the NHS is willing to ‘repeat its mistake’. Over 25,000 people were admitted to care homes from mid-March to mid-April as hospitals scrambled to clear beds for Covid patients.
As many as 16,000 were not tested, so the virus was seeded into care homes where it could rip through elderly and vulnerable residents. There were more than 400 Covid-19 care homes deaths per day at the peak.
Care leaders say the move would be even riskier now thanks to the new, more infectious, strain.
Fiona Carragher of the Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘There’s a horrible sense of déjà -vu – the Government must ensure everyone receives a negative covid test before being discharged, something Alzheimer’s Society called for from the start.’
Charities and care leaders say the move would be a 'grave mistake' and would be even riskier now due to more infectious strain. (Pictured: Ellen Prosser, known as Nell, who is 100 years old, receives the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at the Sunrise Care Home in Sidcup, Britain on Jan 7)
Diane Mayhew of campaign group Rights for Residents said: ‘It is awful that hospitals are full to capacity but this is not the answer. There could be a repeat of the disaster in the spring. As relatives we are unable to get into care homes to see our loved ones in order to “protect” them – so it beggars belief that patients are being allowed in again.’
But Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: ‘If a care home has space and is confident that it can look after a discharged patient safely and get the medical back-up – then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t take them.’
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘No care home should be forced to admit an existing or new resident if they do not feel they can provide the appropriate care.
We are putting in place designated care home or NHS community settings that can provide covid-positive residents with the care and support they need while protecting other vulnerable residents.’