The number of Covid-19 care home deaths in Wiltshire revealed
The newly published figures are being described as tragic
The nation’s care watch dog has published the coronavirus care home death toll figures for Wiltshire.
More than 78,500 care home residents died in England between April 10th 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.
WILTSHIRE CARE HOME DEATHS
In Wiltshire, 433 care home residents died with Covid-19 during this period.
The highest number of fatalities, 239, were recorded between April 10 and June 30 last year, during the early weeks of the pandemic.
Overall, 65 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.”
WHY ARE THEY PUBLISHING FIGURES NOW?
The Care Quality Commission said it was 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 organisation said releasing the information earlier in the pandemic could have had a “serious impact on continuity of care” but it is doing so now as risks have changed.
A BREAK DOWN FROM CARE HOMES IN THE COUNTY
The following care homes in Wiltshire recorded 10 or more deaths in the year to the end of March:
Aldbourne Nursing Home (16), Ashgrove House Nursing Home (14), Ashley Grange Nursing Home (11), Bassett House (15), Braemar Lodge (17), Goatacre Manor Care Centre (13), Gracewell of Salisbury (11), Hayward Care Centre (16), Kimberly West & East Care Centres (11), Kingston House (10), Miranda House (22), OSJCT Athelstan House (12), OSJCT Bemerton Lodge (14), OSJCT Buckland Court (23), OSJCT The Cedars (13), OSJCT Watersmead (11), The White Lodge (13) and The Wingfield (25)
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.