Forum Topic

Covid Care Homes

There have been quite a few (very justified) negative comments on care homes/covid/FOI etc on here and i thought i'd make a few comments of my own.One of my largest clients is a private care home company, they currently have 10 homes up and running and a pipeline of another 20 or so to open over the next 2 years. My comments below are not PR in anyway, if i thought they were doing a really bad job then i'd say so, there's no benefit in me lying about them.This company locked their homes down a full two weeks before the government brought in the nationwide lockdown and that has massively reduced the incidence of covid in the homes. I'm not sure of the exact figures but each home has certainly had less than 10 infections, 4/10 of them have experienced residents dying but the numbers of deaths are way, way below the average for care homes across the UK. In addition because they locked down so early they have had no recent deaths or infections, i think they've been completely clear now for over a month. They haven't experience any staff deaths.They started sourcing extra PPE pretty close to the start of the crisis, as a private company you would of course expect that. They were also repeatedly assured by the NHS/Gov/whoever the extra PPE was 'on its way', over the course of the weeks it became appararent that is wasn't going to happen in a timely manner. When they did finally receive a batch of face masks the best before labels (showing expiry this year) had been placed over the top of other labels showing expiry in 2016.They also had enquries from the NHS about placing older people currently in hospital (not with covid) in their homes but the NHS refused to test the people they were going to place. The homes rightly refused to take these people without them being tested because of course it would endanger the staff and existing residents.In addition to a massive extra spend on PPE they also spent a fortune on buying tablets (Samsung rather than paracetamol) to help residents stay in touch with relatives via Skype etc. They've also done a lot of work in communicating with relatives on a regular basis, letting them know the number of infections/deaths etc.So yes, there are a lot of bad homes/operators out there but they're not all bad.

Matt Palmer ● 2137d13 Comments

My view is that the Care Quality Commission should be got rid of and that we should start again when it comes to standards for social care in care homes.  Opinions need to be sought from carehome residents,  their families and carehome staff and new guidelines drawn up that apply to every home across the country. For example, how long do you leave a resident who is not eating, or even worse, not drinking, before seeking medical assistance?  How many times a year should a chiropodist visit?  How often should residents be provided with entertainment, other than watching t.v?  What bedlinen should a resident be given?  How many times in a day should a resident go, or be taken outside for a breath of fresh air?  And finally, here’s one that will not have occurred to most people, how do you safeguard people’s dentures so they do not go missing?  This happened to my mother in respite care.  Lynne Wallis mentions this in her accurate article, so it must happen more than you would think.  I am sure there are more things, but I will leave the list there.

Martine Guy ● 2136d

I didn't think you were getting at me Martine and I totally agree about the caring aspect.I've been in lots of different care homes over the years and have certainly seen my share of horror stories, a couple of which I'm still haunted by frankly.

Matt Palmer ● 2136d

Matt, don’t think I am getting at you, I am commenting generally from my experiences. Carehomes may look like luxury hotels, the staff may be lovely, but someone actually has to care.  CARE is what should come first.

Martine Guy ● 2136d

I don't really know much about the financing side of things, it's way out of my field. All I can tell you is they seem lovely, especially the newly built ones which are often nicer than hotels. The only point i was trying to make with the post was that not all care homes can be tarred with the same brush.

Matt Palmer ● 2136d

I just don’t understand the money side of it.  £1,000 per week upwards per resident and yet you are lucky if a podiatrist comes in, I had to pay privately as I got so fed up with asking for one to attend my mother, her feet were terrible.  Why isn’t this on the NHS?  It is one of those carehome mysteries I could never understand. ”Residents lost weight because they couldn’t eat solid food, grew weak and died.  I have seen it time and time again”. Lynne Wallis “My mother’s 13 years of neglect in ‘care’ homes”, The Daily Express.  The best article I have ever seen on carehomes.

Martine Guy ● 2136d

Martine. Part of the problem seems to be local authorities setting limits on what they will pay homes because they in turn have had cash from central government reduced. Its difficult to do comparisons as there are so many variables (location, level of nursing and care), extras provided,  etc) but self funding can be 2, 4, or more times rates set by local authorities; I guess one gets what one pays for? Of course some operators are just there to make money rather than provide a eervice. No excuse for starving residents - that must also be a failing of the CQC and local authorities and well as malice by the home operator?

Michael Ixer ● 2136d

Good point, Michael, why are carehomes strapped for cash? The article I referred to above uses a term that I think sums up the situation in some homes that is “casual neglect”.  In fact you can so casually neglect a resident that you don’t check that they are eating or drinking, so that basically they starve to death.  See the description of this in the article.  Put it all down to dementia.

Martine Guy ● 2136d

MattIt sounds ideal. Sorry, as someone who is forever cynical, I'd hope they arent funding things with debt loaded onto the care home company while extracting profits for the investor ... I'm sure you've done your own due diligence and I'm sure they pay the bills on time ...The home my mother was in, a private one, had a good rating when she entered, and she always seemed to have a good level of care, but they always seemed to be  strapped for cash. (My mother was self funding but she got the local authority rate because the la helped place her to stop her bed blocking in the local hospital: the LA paid the fee to the home then recharged her.) I suspect most residents we paying the LA rate so little self funding subsidy.

Michael Ixer ● 2136d

Matt, I think if you have found a really good carehome company, then you should let your friends and family know about it, to spread the word.  I realise you might be reluctant on a public forum, so I wasn’t asking you to do so on here.  It is what families are looking for: good carehomes. As regards facilities, I think I would put resident’s needs, eg such as being fed by a carer when they can’t feed themselves, over installing fine dining rooms that are rarely if ever used.  

Martine Guy ● 2136d

Hi Michael, Its a profit making company but no shareholders as they are ultimately owned by a private equity company. And yes, they take both self funding and Local authority residents.

Matt Palmer ● 2137d

Hi Martine, Yes they all have adequate food/water/bed linen etc. My impressions when I have been to the homes have always been very favourable. Incidentally two of the homes they have were bought from another failing company and the state of them before they were taken over was absolutely awful. One in particular that I spend a decent amount of time in before the refurb was an absolute horror story.

Matt Palmer ● 2137d

I think it is great that Care Home Residents are able to communicate via Skype, but let us hope residents are still getting the basics, like adequate bed linen and food/water during the lockdown.  If you want to read a true description of care homes, I agree not all, then google “My mother’s 13 years of neglect in ‘Care’ homes”, The Daily Express 1 July 2018 by Lynne Wallis.

Martine Guy ● 2137d

Thanks Matt. Its good to see something positive. Of course it does emphasise how inconsistent the standard of care is across the sector. Can I ask a couple of questions? Is the organisation a profit making limited company paying dividends to shareholders or is it one of the not for profit organisations running care homes? Does the home take both self funding and local authority funded residents? The impression I get is that some homes just wouldn't have the cash reserves to buy tablets or the wi fi infrastructure to support them.

Michael Ixer ● 2137d