Tragic Covid impact on care homes revealed as death tolls are published

The Care Quality Commission said it was now publishing figures on death notifications it received from named homes for the first time in a bid to be transparent, following earlier requests to share the data.

The care watchdog said releasing the information earlier in the pandemic could have had a "serious impact on continuity of care" but is doing so now as risks have changed.

More than 78,500 care home residents died in England between April 10, 2020, and March 31, 2021, with around 7,000 care homes registering at least one death related to coronavirus.

Deaths have decreased substantially across the country as a whole as the vaccine continues to be rolled out.

In Staffordshire, 754 care home residents died with Covid-19 during this period. The highest number of fatalities, 321, were recorded between April 10 and June 30 last year, during the early weeks of the pandemic. Overall, 134 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

A total of 222 care home residents died in Wolverhampton with Covid-19 during the time period. The highest number of fatalities, 92, were recorded in the three months to March 2021. Overall, 36 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

While in Sandwell, 197 care home residents died with coronavirus during this period. The highest number of fatalities, 90, were recorded between April 10 and June 30 last year, during the early weeks of the pandemic. Overall, 37 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

In Walsall, 192 care home residents died with Covid-19 during this period. The highest number of fatalities, 109, were recorded between April 10 and June 30 last year, during the early weeks of the pandemic. Overall, 34 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

And a total of 185 care home residents died with Covid-19 in Dudley between April last year and end of March. The highest number of fatalities, 76, were recorded in the three months to March 2021. Overall, 51 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

The data covers deaths of care home residents involving coronavirus, regardless of where the disease was contracted or where the death occurred.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care homes, said the figures must not be seen as an indication of quality.

He said: “It is important that the statistics are seen in context and that the entire system learns lessons from this data.

“I would like to pay tribute to all the frontline staff who have done a heroic job and it must not be forgotten that many of them lost their lives too.”

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said care homes that have been impacted the most nationally are generally in areas with high cases in the community.

She said: “It would be easy to assume that if a care home has experienced a large volume of Covid-19 deaths that must mean it’s not very good, but this would be unfair.

“This is more a tragic accident of geography than anything else.”

The CQC said infection control inspections were carried out throughout the pandemic and the body praised the efforts of care home staff.

Kate Terroni, CQC’s chief inspector for adult social care, called for “consideration and respect” to be shown to care home residents, their families, and staff.

She said: “We are grateful for the time that families who lost their loved ones during the pandemic have spent meeting with us and the personal experiences they have shared.

“These discussions have helped us shape our thinking around the highly sensitive issue of publishing information on the numbers of death notifications involving Covid-19 received from individual care homes.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said the Government has done "all it can" to protect vulnerable people in adult social care throughout the pandemic.

“We have provided billions of pounds to support the sector, including on infection and prevention control measures, free PPE, priority vaccinations and additional testing,” she added.