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‘Staff test increases too late,’ sector body warns as care home deaths spike
Increased testing for care home workers has come too late and staff across the sector are still having to travel long distances to reach drive-through testing centres, a key sector body has said.
Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, the membership group for not-for-profit social care providers, told Inside Housing that testing for the sector was “not prioritised early enough” and said it still remains patchy for many providers.
She said: “Care providers are not confident of consistent access to testing for their staff and are worried that it will not be available when they need it at a geographical location near to the workers’ base, with many having to travel two hours or more while unwell.”
Official data from the Care Quality Commission illustrates the growing crisis in care homes, with the regulator being notified of a total of 4,343 deaths from COVID-19 in care home settings between 10 and 24 April.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on 15 April that all care workers who need a test would receive one, before committing on 28 April to the testing of all asymptomatic NHS and social care staff and care home residents.
Ms Rayner said: “Testing for all residents within homes is coming, but again it is way too late.
“The early approach only enabled small numbers of symptomatic residents to be tested by Public Health England, leaving insufficient information about the spread of the infection within homes.”
Other care providers, including Riverside and Estuary Housing, have noted an improvement in access to testing for staff members in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, other providers have told Inside Housing of continuing struggles to obtain enough personal protective equipment (PPE).
Holly Dagnall, director of homes and well-being at Nottingham Community Housing Association, said it remained a key issue for providers despite the government’s plan to improve access to supplies.
Two weeks ago, following growing criticism from the sector, the government set out plans to increase PPE supplies.
This included rolling out a new online delivery system for social care providers and integrate the NHS supply chain’s central PPE logistical operations with kits shipped directly to social care providers by Royal Mail.
Ms Dagnall noted that despite an increase in PPE supplies, guidance from Public Health England changed again this week to advise all care home staff to wear masks at all times, regardless of whether there are symptomatic patients.
“That is going to have a massive impact on PPE supplies, they are going to diminish fairly rapidly. Supplies that we thought would last months may only last weeks,” she warned.
The Extra Care Charitable Trust, the country’s largest not-for-profit developer of housing for people over 50, also highlighted the changing guidance as a potential issue moving forward.
A spokesperson told Inside Housing: “Looking ahead we recognise that the government guidelines do change and demand for additional PPE is likely to increase.
“It is gloves, aprons and surgical masks that are most difficult to get hold of and while we have placed orders for these, there’s a few weeks’ waiting list for these to arrive.”
Other providers have suggested that while the overall PPE supply has been increased, it is still not enough to cover the NHS and social care.
Lee Buss, director of operations at Riverside Care & Support, said while the association has a good amount of stock, it has been a “struggle” to secure enough equipment.
“Often if you put in a large order, you will receive less than you asked for as suppliers are keeping in reserve enough PPE to supply the NHS.”
