"Boris Johnson came under fresh fire on Tuesday after suggesting the high number of coronavirus deaths in care homes was caused by care providers not following “procedures.”
Ministers have been accused of policy failures in the early weeks of the pandemic that fuelled the high death rate, including the government insisting that institutions accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals.
According to NHS England, 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes between March 17 and April 16. But, speaking during a visit to Goole, Yorkshire, the prime minister said: “One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care. “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time. Most important is to fund them properly but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long-term is properly organised and supported.”
More than half of care homes in England have been hit by Covid-19, according to official estimates, with one in five residents infected and 7 per cent of staff."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fa45610-b642-4434-b48b-110fd2545f2e
"Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which also represents care homes, said the prime minister's comments were “beyond outrageous”.
“At the start of the pandemic care homes were ignored and our personal protective equipment was directed towards hospitals. NHS doctors and district nurses withdrew from care homes, hospitals transferred patients without Covid-19 tests to care homes and the government finally woke up to the problem six weeks late.”
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, provoked a similar backlash in May when he said ministers had “tried to throw a protective ring around” care homes “right from the start” of the outbreak."
Ministers have been accused of policy failures in the early weeks of the pandemic that fuelled the high death rate, including the government insisting that institutions accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals.
According to NHS England, 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes between March 17 and April 16. But, speaking during a visit to Goole, Yorkshire, the prime minister said: “One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care. “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time. Most important is to fund them properly but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long-term is properly organised and supported.”
More than half of care homes in England have been hit by Covid-19, according to official estimates, with one in five residents infected and 7 per cent of staff."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fa45610-b642-4434-b48b-110fd2545f2e
"Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which also represents care homes, said the prime minister's comments were “beyond outrageous”.
“At the start of the pandemic care homes were ignored and our personal protective equipment was directed towards hospitals. NHS doctors and district nurses withdrew from care homes, hospitals transferred patients without Covid-19 tests to care homes and the government finally woke up to the problem six weeks late.”
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, provoked a similar backlash in May when he said ministers had “tried to throw a protective ring around” care homes “right from the start” of the outbreak."