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Boris Johnson: Care homes didn't follow procedures correctly during coronavirus outbreak

Boris Johnson said: 'We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have' - WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe
Boris Johnson said: 'We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have' - WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe
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Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Boris Johnson has become embroiled in a row with care home chiefs after suggesting that care homes fuelled the spread of coronavirus by failing to follow the right procedures.

Care providers said the Prime Minister's comments were "outrageous" and accused the Government of attempting to shift the blame for its own failings.

They also demanded clarity on which rules they were being accused of breaking, saying that homes had been issued with more than 100 guidance updates in the space of as many days during the crisis.

Care homes have now seen almost 20,000 coronavirus deaths, with heavy criticism of policies that saw thousands of patients discharged from hospitals into homes at a time when there was no routine testing.

It followed advice from Public Health England (PHE), which in February had said it was "very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected".

As the crisis grew, homes struggled to get hold of personal protective equipment (PPE), with testing for residents only introduced after it had been rolled out across hospitals.

It was not until May – five weeks after ministers had been warned of the risks of allowing staff to work in multiple care homes – that the Government issued advice to homes not to allow such practices.

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But on Monday, Mr Johnson said too many care homes had not been following the procedures correctly.

"One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care," the Prime Minister said during a visit to Goole, in Yorkshire.

"We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have, but we're learning lessons the whole time.

"Most important is to fund them properly... but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector, long-term, is properly organised and supported."

Professor Martin Green, the chief executive of Care England, the largest representative body for independent social care services, accused Mr Johnson of trying to deflect from Government failings.

He said: "The Government's policies on this were really bad. The priority was all about the NHS when care homes were most at risk.

"We had people being discharged from hospital without testing. It was only when we raised the alarm, with figures showing how many residents were infected, that the Prime Minister seemed to take any note at all. He really hasn't bathed himself in glory – and it seems outrageous to now try and throw the blame on homes."

Prof Green said care homes had been forced to "put themselves into lockdown" in the absence of advice from the Government, adding: "There was no advice at all in the first place – they were just taking people out of hospital without any testing."

Amid desperate shortages of PPE, care homes belatedly received "ever-changing" guidance, some of which altered six times in two days, he said.

"Then we had large numbers of staff self-isolating, based on Government advice," he added. "That meant using more agency staff.  It wasn't until much later that advice changed on that.

"I'd like to sit down with the Prime Minister and him to tell me what advice is it we didn't follow."

Vic Rayner, the executive director of the National Care Forum, which represents 120 social care charities, called Mr Johnson's comments "neither accurate nor welcome".

She added: "Government guidance has come to the sector in stops and starts, with organisations grappling with over 100 pieces of additional guidance in the same number of days, much of which was not accompanied by an understanding of the operational implications of operating care services."

Later, a Downing Street source said: "Throughout this crisis, care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances.

"The PM was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time."

Mike Padgham, the chairman of the Independent Care Group (ICG) said the vast majority of providers had "done their absolute best in the face of slow and conflicting advice".

He said: "It is worth remembering that, in February, the Government agency PHE told homes it was 'very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected' and that homes didn't need to do anything differently.

"It was many weeks later, after most homes had already put themselves into lockdown, that the advice changed."

He said care providers had "worked miracles" considering the lack of support they were given.

Mr Johnson made his remarks after the head of the NHS called for reform and funding of social care, saying plans should be drawn up within a year.

Sir Simon Stevens said the coronavirus crisis had shone "a very harsh spotlight" on the resilience of the sector and defended the decision to discharge around 25,000 hospital patients into care homes at the height of the crisis.

He said hospitals were "rigorously" following the instructions they had been given by PHE on March 11, which set out priorities for testing based on limited capacity.

Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, said under-funded care homes had been left to "fend for themselves" in accessing PPE, and had struggled to get hold of tests.

"The Government's response to the unfolding disaster in care homes has been widely criticised for being too little, too late," she said. "Despite all this, care staff have worked tirelessly and in deeply distressing conditions throughout the pandemic to care for their residents.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing but, in our heart of hearts, most of us would acknowledge that we should have done better.

"Now what matters is that care gets the help it needs to manage a possible second wave and that the Government establishes a properly funded, effective system so the scale and intensity of suffering we've seen in care homes can never happen again."