Care home staff did 'everything they could' says CQC chief revealing Covid deaths in care settings

The number of people who died with Covid-19 in each care home in England has been published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with its chief inspector calling out care staff as having done “everything they could”.

Over 39,000 care home residents died with Covid between 10 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 - with almost half of the deaths (18,261) happening between April- June 2020.

The highest number of Covid-linked deaths recorded by a single care home was 44 and care homes in the North West of England had the most deaths (5,748).

The CQC’s figures show death notifications from care home providers for individual care homes (between 10 April 2020 and 31 March 2021) but the CQC has said death notifications alone ‘are not a reliable indicator of quality or safety in individual care homes’.

The care watchdog says it has found no link between standards of care in a care home and the number of deaths.

‘Across all care settings staff have gone to great lengths’

The regulator has said many ‘variable factors’ are involved in the deaths, including rates of local community transmission, size of the care home, and the age, health and care needs of residents.

Kate Terroni, CQC’s chief inspector for adult social care, said: "As we publish this data, we ask for consideration and respect to be shown to people living in care homes, to families who have been affected, and to the staff who have done everything they could, in incredibly difficult circumstances, to look after those in their care.”

Between April 10-June 30 2020, some 37 care homes had at least 20 deaths each linked to Covid-19 - with the majority (21) located in the north of England.

The CQC found that ‘across all care settings, staff have gone to great lengths to try to contain the effects of this virus’.

The CQC chief inspector added: "In considering this data it is important to remember that every number represents a life lost - and families, friends and those who cared for them who are having to face the sadness and consequences of their death.

"We made a commitment to publish data at this level, but only once we felt we were able to do so as accurately and safely as possible given the complexity and sensitivity of the data.”

From 10 April 2020, care home managers began notifying the CQC about whether Covid was believed to be a factor in the person's death.

The CQC said the inclusion of a death linked to Covid in the published figures ‘is based on the statement of the care home provider, which may or may not correspond to a medical diagnosis or test result or be reflected in the death certification’.

The data covers deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19, regardless of where the virus was contracted or where the death happened, including in the care home, in hospital, on route to hospital in an ambulance or at another setting.

The CQC conducted 5,577 inspections of residential adult social care providers between 10 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.

The CQC also carried out inspections looking specifically at infection prevention control in care homes and looked at whether staff had been properly trained to deal with outbreaks and if staff and residents had enough Personal Protective Equipment. The regulator also considered care home layout and adherence to social distancing and shielding.

'Tragic accident of geography'

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, 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.

“The care homes that have been impacted the worst are generally in areas where there have been lots of Covid-19 cases in the local community, so this is more a tragic accident of geography than anything else.”

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents care providers, said Care England had been working with the CQC over the last nine months informing it of care providers’ concerns about the timing of the data being published and seeking assurance it would be released in context.

Martin Green said: “It is important that the statistics are seen in context and that the entire system learns lessons from this data.

“We do not believe that this data is a reflection of quality and 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.

“Care homes have been right at the front line of this dreadful pandemic. My thoughts go out to all those bereaved relatives as well as those dedicated staff who have been on high alert often working around the clock with no end in sight as well as all bereaved relatives.

“Every death is a tragedy and it would be highly disrespectful if lessons were not learned at every level. Similarly, every death needs to be seen in context."