Podcast: Care home owner who lost 13 residents to COVID-19 says 'love' from people kept her going

Can you stroke a dying resident’s face or "cradle them" while wearing gloves and a face shield? These are the questions that haunt Anita Astle, the managing director of Wren Hall Nursing Home in Nottingham, where 13 residents have died.

“Soul-destroying”. “Overwhelming”. “Devastating”. “Frustrating”. They are the words she uses, speaking as a guest on the podcast 'Let's Talk About Care', to describe the Covid outbreak that killed almost a third of the 54 residents in Wren Hall care home.

“None of them were expected to die at the time that they did”, she says. "They were very active".

Like Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Anita Astle survived the coronavirus but having COVID-19 “was like something I never experienced before".

Upon hearing that a COVID-19 outbreak was in the care home she says: "I just broke down and cried and thought this is going to be devastating. I don't think I really appreciated how devastating it was going to be".

Staff used 394 masks a day at peak

When the government said there was personal protective equipment (PPE) being delivered, her question was “Where?”

She describes a “frantic” search for PPE after the government sent care homes 300 masks a day, when at one point she was getting through 394 a day.

None of the residents who lost their lives at Wren Hall care home, “other than a male resident who died in hospital”, were ever tested for the coronavirus.

On 3 May, a government minister said more testing earlier would have led to fewer deaths.

Asked whether fewer people would have died if testing capacity had been greater sooner, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC: “Yes”.

"If we had had 100,000 test capacity before this thing started and the knowledge that we now have retrospectively I’m sure many things could be different.”

The UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told a select committee of MPs assessing the government's COVID-19 response, "I think if we'd managed to ramp testing capacity quicker it would have been beneficial".

The care home manager says she is "still yet to see" all her staff and residents get tested after Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised everyone in care homes would be.

She also is "not convinced" about the accuracy of the governments’ tests. Of the 10 staff members who were able to get a test, five tested positive and five were negative, even though all 10 were displaying COVID-19 symptoms.

102-year-old woman survives COVID-19

“Poor” and “conflicting” guidance for care homes are among the list of government failures she calls out to add to lack of testing, questionable testing results, care badge failures and PPE shortages.

When coronavirus outbreak began, Anita Astle was herself feeling drained by the virus and isolating at home for 13 days but she says she did “my damnedest” to support everybody.

Determined to stop residents dying, she was quick to create an isolation suite with bedrooms, bathrooms and a lounge.

After setting up a “Red team” of staff to work in it 24 hours a day, she has seen “no new cases” of COVID-19. And she is “delighted” by the survival of a 102-year-old woman who was one of the first to leave the care home's isolation suite.

But the manager is “worried” about the impact fighting COVID-19 has taken on the mental health of her staff. She is busy researching what action to take to best help them.

Having spent almost £9,000 on face masks and face shields alone in two weeks, and with eight empty beds at the care home, she is also worried this economic strain could “severely impact” her care home’s financial viability.

“If we continue to be spending the amount we're spending on PPE" while having empty beds she says, "I don’t think we’ll be able to function much beyond another six to eight weeks".

Community boosted morale leaving staff 'smelling of roses'

The care home manager says it was the community not the government who came to her aid with donations and kindness.

The morale of staff was boosted by donations of PPE, chocolates and even toiletries which left staff “smelling of roses” after a long shift and a shower at the care home.

She says of the kindness and thoughtfulness shown by the community: "I cannot thank them enough".

“The love of people, the love of the job that I do, the fantastic people that I work for, the amazing people that we care for and their wonderful families. And also the love that our community has shown us. All of that has kept us going."

But she has no warm words for the government. Instead, she has this advice for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "Please look at social care. Recognise how social care is supporting the NHS and that without social care the NHS would be in a mess. It would be at a standstill.

"Recognise the fantastic work social care is doing and reward it appropriately."

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