Opinion

Urgent need to protect care homes amid rise in Covid clusters

AMONG the profound tragedies caused by the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic was the physical and mental suffering in our care homes.

In the face of mounting concerns over rising clusters of infections in homes - more than 80 at present - everything possible must urgently be done to stop a repeat of the spring's toll of death and illness.

When the health service was first preparing to deal with Covid-19, older people were discharged, often abruptly, from hospitals into care homes.

This was done with the best of intentions. It was feared that hospital wards would rapidly become swamped by patients with coronavirus, making them inherently unsafe for older people.

Yet an unintended consequence of the practice of discharging older people from hospital was that it actually put them at greater risk.

Instead of being places of safety and protection for some of the most vulnerable members of our community, homes all too often became clusters of infection and danger.

Care home staff, who have worked heroically throughout, were often helpless to slow the spread of the virus. Inadequate supplies of PPE and staffing pressures amplified the challenges.

As well as exposing their physical vulnerability, Covid-19 also led to mental anguish among many residents when vital visits from family and friends were suspended.

Testing for the virus is clearly key to keeping care homes safe, both for residents and staff.

It is deeply worrying, therefore, that problems with the testing system have been reported.

Giving evidence at Stormont's health committee yesterday, Pauline Shepherd of Independent Health & Care Providers, a group that represents care providers, spoke of how there was no consistent "safety net" of re-testing residents four to seven days after they have been discharged from hospital to ensure that they have not contracted the virus.

Care home staff are supposed to be tested every 14 days and all residents every 28 days, though there have also been problems with delays to these results.

If it is impossible, as health minister Robin Swann and chief social worker Sean Holland said this week, to keep Covid-19 out of care homes while it is being transmitted in the community, then it is essential that the testing regime is enhanced.

This will protect not only our most at risk friends and relatives but the staff who care for them. The mistakes of the spring cannot be repeated this winter.