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Caregivers are demanding £ 500 million in additional government funding to make nursing homes safe in the run-up to Christmas, while some councils have been accused of taking infection control too far to ban tinsel or advise against trees.
After Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged to make visits to all nursing homes possible before Christmas, the National Care Forum (NCF) said households need to double the infection control fund of $ 546 million. of pounds to at least 1 billion pounds.
This would help prevent the need for staff to move between homes, improve visiting facilities, test for visitors and ensure sufficient PPE, he said.
A pilot for rapid results lateral flow testing for relatives is starting in 20 households and will be rolled out in about 16,000 other care facilities, but experts say Hancock’s promise may be unrealistic.
“To fulfill this commitment [for Christmas visits]We will be waiting for the government to provide additional support so that we can move to the position where visits are a non-compliance, ”said Vic Rayner, executive director of NCF.
Even if visitation is enabled in time for the holiday period, some residences may not look very festive because health officials have raised concerns that the decorations could spread infections.
A nursing home in Dundee reported that it had been told not to have Christmas trees inside, while the Lancashire county council has recommended that nursing homes not use tinsel and that baubles are acceptable only if they are “in a cleaning schedule with auditing. ” In Hampshire, health authorities have advised nursing homes to ask for gifts to arrive unwrapped and to consider placing trees outside.
An excerpt from a memo to Hampshire Nursing Homes and the Isle of Wight Sustainability and Transformation Society, seen by The Guardian, said: “Households may prefer to receive unwrapped and unwrapped gifts themselves. There should be no Christmas decorations during an outbreak or near isolation areas. “
Some nursing home administrators are concerned about the rules, arguing that Christmas decorations can be a major memory booster for people with dementia.
Jane Ashcroft, CEO of Anchor Hanover, which runs nursing homes and retirement villages, took a defiant tone, saying, “Santa took his test and is on his way.”
Jayne Connery, director of the Care Campaign for the Vulnerable, said she had been informed of six councils that had proposed restrictions or bans in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.
She said: “We are getting a huge outpouring of how ridiculous this is and how the elderly have suffered enough and are now taking away the feeling of Christmas. Seniors resonate a lot with Christmas and many may see this Christmas as their last. Families and caregivers are outraged after the year they have had.
Zoe McCallum of the Brendoncare Foundation, which runs 10 residences in the south of England where rapid visitor tests are being tested, said: “We are seeing guidance from local authorities on trinkets and what you have, and we ‘hope things change.
“It is very important that our residents have something to remember, and not just a year that passed, but a Christmas to enjoy singing and games and lots of gifts and lots of food and a little drink from time to time.”
There are also broader concerns about infection control procedures in nursing homes. A survey by the NCF of 1,240 care and support services across England revealed that only a third had been allocated enough PPE to meet their requirements through the national PPE portal. In September, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) promised a free PPE this winter.
The survey also revealed delays in obtaining results for staff’s Covid-19 PCR tests, which must be sent to labs. “We still have more than 60% of the evidence that is returned in three days or more and only 24% of the evidence is returned in 48 hours,” Rayner said. It was an improvement over the summer, but it was still too slow to be as effective as possible in controlling the infection, he said.
He added that while the government had committed to conducting whole-home testing for 20% of households for supported living and extra care, the survey showed that only 1.3% had been receiving them.
A DHSC spokesperson said the government had already provided £ 1.1 billion for infection control, adding: “We continue to work closely with the social care sector to ensure they have everything they need and keep under review. future financing agreements “.
A spokesperson for the Lancashire County Council said: “We will review the advice we have given so far because the last thing we want to do is give the impression that we are putting up barriers for residents to have a happy and safe Christmas. “The Hampshire County Council has been contacted for comment.
