Northamptonshire care homes back in spotlight after spike in coronavirus deaths

Northamptonshire’s care homes are under more scrutiny following a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths.

Regulatory body the Care Quality Commission has reported 30 deaths linked to Covid-19 in county care homes during a 19-day period between November 23 and December 11.

That ranks Northamptonshire 11th among 148 areas in England with 15 per cent of the total number of virus-related deaths recorded in the county since April occurring in the last two-and-a-half weeks.

Yet county officials say the rise in deaths in care homes reflects increases in numbers of cases in the community.

And they are pinning their hopes on vaccinating care home staff to bring the spread of the virus under control.

Katie Brown, acting adult social care director at Northamptonshire Adult Social Services, said: “Covid-19 cases continue to rise in our over-60s population, as well as an additional increase over the last month in cases amongst people aged 80-plus.

“These age groups tend to be at greater risk of more severe disease, hospital admission, and also sadly death — as in these cases.

“When community incidence of Covid-19 is high, as in this timeframe, risk to care home residents increases. Shielding care home residents from potential sources of infection and ensuring rapid action to minimise outbreak size if infection is introduced is vitally important.”

Latest figures published by Public Health Northamptonshire showed six active outbreaks — more than two Covid cases linked by time or place within the previous 28 days — in county care homes involving 107 cases.

But officials will not reveal if any of the 30 deaths since November 23 are linked to these outbreaks, nor if any single care home has experienced multiple deaths.

Ms Brown added: “There have been outbreaks in care homes during this time period, however, we are not able to provide further specific details on settings as we are subject to information governance regulations in order to protect the privacy of individuals.

“Our teams track all of the county’s known outbreak situations and take action to manage coronavirus. Where there are outbreaks in care homes, residents and staff are provided with appropriate guidance and support. Situations are closely monitored, working with local public health teams, Public Health England and Environmental Health colleagues.

“For several months now we have limited staff movement between settings unless absolutely necessary, including requesting that if homes have to use agency staff that they block book them to help reduce the risk of spreading of infection. Care homes also have a regular programme of PCR testing of staff and residents which has picked up cases where individuals were asymptomatic.

“Managers and staff across care homes have worked incredibly hard during the pandemic to keep residents safe, and continue to do so.

“We started the roll-out programme for care home staff vaccine on December 9 and continue to work closely with system partners to ensure as many care home staff are vaccinated as safely as possible in the immediate days and weeks.”

Earlier this year, 36 residents and staff tested positive for coronavirus at Cheaney House in Desborough.

The home had admitted two Kettering General Hospital patients and one from a hospice who were described as Covid-negative but later tested positive for the virus.

A Police investigation is still ongoing into Temple Court in Kettering, where 15 patients died.

Family members of widower Mikhail Waskiw, from Roade, demanded answers after he was among those who died having contracted coronavirus before home was closed in May amid serious concerns following a CQC report.

The Office for National Statistics began publishing deaths in care homes in April after an outcry that thousands were going unreported.

Since then, 189 deaths in Northamptonshire care homes have been linked to the virus — 151 up until August and 48 since early November.