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“I’m 85 years old and I don’t have a home, right?” says Shirley Scott, the last remaining resident at Newfield Nursing Home in Sheffield.
The nursing home has been one of the hardest hit in the UK by the coronavirus pandemic: 25 people who lived there died of the virus after more than 110 residents and staff members tested positive.
Following the peak of the outbreak earlier this year, the home experienced a sharp drop in the number of residents it served. It is now closing for good, with 38 nurses and caregivers facing dismissal.
Shirley Scott is forced to move due to the closure of her nursing home
After recovering from COVID-19 herself in March, Ms. Scott, who has Parkinson’s disease, must find a new place to live.
“It’s horrible,” says her caregiver Anne Clark.
“She is the last resident of Newfield, there is no one else here, just us and Shirley.”
Gordon, Mrs. Scott’s husband, died in December.
Since her family was unable to visit the home in March due to the strict lockdown, she says she faced a “lonely” recovery from the virus.
Ms Scott, who has Parkinson’s disease, contracted coronavirus in March
With her boxes and bags packed, she faces the prospect of moving out of nursing homes for the fourth time in three years.
“It’s disturbing,” says Ms. Scott.
“Everyone has been crying … because we are like a family.
“I don’t have an address, I need to find somewhere.”
Ms Scott says the residence’s closure has been ‘disturbing’
“When COVID entered the house, I think it destroyed it”
A total of 275 UK nursing homes closed between January and early August, more than the figure for all of last year, according to health analysts LaingBuisson.
Ms. Clark, who has been a primary caregiver in Newfield since 2009, says the home was “destroyed” when coronavirus infections spread there.
“The residents we care for are not just jobs, they are more like our family,” he says.
Anne Clark Says Newfield Nursing Home ‘Destroyed’ By Coronavirus
“It is very personal what we have to do, especially through COVID.
“But when COVID came into the house, I think it destroyed it. It was absolutely horrible.
“I can’t describe how scared everyone was.
“You didn’t know if you were going to get it yourself, if you were going to take it home with your family, if we would give it to the other residents.
“He would come home at night, shower, change, then think about that day and fear the next day.”
275 nursing homes in the UK closed between January and early August
Ms. Clark says the house became “very quiet” after the worst of the pandemic and the staff “thought things would get better, but they didn’t.”
“We were called to an emergency meeting out of nowhere,” he says. “That’s when they told us that they took it from our manager’s hands and that we would close.
“Everyone in the room fell silent. No one could speak. They didn’t know what to say.
“Everyone was shocked. I was devastated like everyone else.”
About 25 Newfield Nursing Home residents died of coronavirus
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever been through in my life”
Nicola Richards, director of Palms Row Healthcare, which ran Newfield Nursing Home, said its closure is a “stark reminder of the mess that social care is in.”
He added: “Being in this position, after fighting a pandemic with my team, facing closure is just another thing.
“It is incredibly sad for me, for my teams, for the families and for the residents.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever been through in my life.”
Nicola Richards says the residence’s closure is a ‘reminder of the disaster that welfare is in’
Ms Richards says that more than 90% of its residents received funding from the local authority or the NHS and the household “cannot dictate what rate we charge.”
The amount local authorities pay for nursing care beds also varies from county to county.
Sheffield pays £ 647 per person per week, the second lowest of all local authorities in England, although the council says it is in line with neighboring authorities.
Twenty miles west in Derbyshire, the council pays £ 783 – £ 136 more for the same level of care.
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“The local authorities tell us what they pay us,” says Richards. “This varies depending on what local authority you are in.
“Here, it’s less than £ 700 a week to provide nursing care to our loved ones, and that to me is not a lot of money. It is not sustainable.”
Ms. Richards says the home care provider has also seen an increase in costs during the pandemic, including purchasing PPE and medical supplies.
“We have not seen an additional increase in the rate they pay us [that is] enough to cover those rising costs, “he says.
“The math doesn’t add up.”
The Department of Health and Welfare said it is “well aware of the long-term challenges for the welfare system in England”.
A spokesperson said: “Putting social care on a sustainable basis, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the greatest challenges facing our society.
“There are complex issues to address, to which we want to give all our considerations in light of the current circumstances.”
