North Yorkshire bids to be part of care home visiting pilot

North Yorkshire has bid to be part of a new pilot scheme that would enable care home visits.

The scheme, which was revealed by care minister Helen Whately last week, would allow one relative or friend of a care home resident to be treated as a key worker.

This would enable people to visit loved ones in homes during the winter, though no dates when this might be implemented have been revealed.

Richard Webb, director of care at North Yorkshire County Council, and Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, have written to the government offering the county’s homes to be part of the pilot.

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In a letter to Ms Whately, they said:

“The lockdown of care and nursing homes has been vital to protect residents and staff. However, it has taken its toll on residents, particularly those with dementia whose mental health and happiness has suffered as a result.

“The lockdown has also been distressing for their relatives, as in some cases it has been months since they had visited in person.

“We very much welcome the pilot and hope it is carried out quickly so that, if it is successful, we can speedily roll out the system to all care and nursing homes across the country.”

Last week Ms Whately told MPs on the health and social care committee that the government would soon pilot the proposal.

She said:

“I can’t give you a date, but what I can say is we’re moving forward with it and we are going to pilot it.

“Visiting is incredibly important for residents and their families and care homes. I really want us to enable visiting but it must be safe.”

Judy Bass, whose 99-year-old father lives in a Harrogate care home and who is campaigning for visits to care homes, questioned whether the project would even be possible, given the struggle to deliver testing around the country.

She told the Stray Ferret last week:

“I don’t think it’s particularly a step forward. I think it’s placatory, because they have known about this for so long. It just needs to be put in place.

“Piloting it – I don’t even know how that would operate or if it would have any effect. They just need to put it in place. Relatives need to be given key worker status and tested and allowed to visit.”

North Yorkshire care homes have restricted visits throughout October.

 

Task group meets to discuss care home visits

A task group designed to come up with a solution for care home visits met for the first time this week amid county-wide restrictions.

North Yorkshire County Council restricted visits to care homes throughout October following an increase in coronavirus cases.

It comes as 12 homes in the Harrogate district have so far reported outbreaks of coronavirus since the start of the second wave of infections.

The group, which is made up of care home managers, residents, family members and dementia experts, met online for the first time and said a flexible approach with risk assessments for individual people was needed.

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Richard Webb, director of adult care at the county council, had promised that the restrictions would be reviewed at the end of the month.

He said the meeting was positive and that the group wanted to find solutions for visiting.

Mr Webb said:

“This was a really positive meeting and members of the task group welcomed the opportunity to tell their personal stories of the hardship and impact in terms of people’s mental well-being of stopping visits.

“Everybody at that meeting also acknowledged the challenges of protecting residents from covid but showed great focus on finding solutions to enable visits if at all possible beyond October.

“My own preference is for regular covid testing for designated visitors. However, given the current capacity issues with the national testing programme, it is difficult to guarantee this approach will be practicable at the present time.”

The authority said that care homes are still encouraged to allow window visits for residents so that relatives can still see their loved ones.

Homes are also being urged to use telephones and other technology to allow residents to contact relatives.

12 Covid care home outbreaks in Harrogate since second wave

Twelve care homes in the Harrogate district have reported coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the second wave of the pandemic.

Across North Yorkshire as a whole, 33 homes have declared cases since the beginning of September when infection numbers began to rise.

An outbreak is defined as when two or more cases of covid have tested positive at a home.

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Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, revealed the figure at a briefing of North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that manages emergencies.

North Yorkshire has 235 residential and nursing homes, plus extra care facilities. Homes in the Harrogate district make up a third of that figure.

Mr Webb said:

“We are working very closely with them and we have been doing a lot of drop-in visits to homes. I have to say we have found some really good practice around how residents are using their PPE, following the rules and supporting residents and families.

“Equally, where we have found poor practice we will act swiftly to address that and work with the Care Quality Commission as the care regulator to do so.”

Mr Webb added that a task group set up to look into how visits could be allowed in care homes in the county held its first meeting in the last seven days.

The group includes care providers, residents, relatives and a local charity that deals with support for people with dementia.

Visits have been restricted at homes throughout October in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

A further 24 positive cases of Covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours, according to Public Health England figures.

The number takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,254.

The weekly rate of cases in the district stands at 97.6 cases per 100,000 population. 

Care providers back county council’s devolution bid

An independent body for care providers in North Yorkshire has said it would be “pointless and unnecessary” to allow devolution to dismantle the current system of social care in the county.

Under the existing two-tier system of local government, North Yorkshire County Council has full responsibility for social care in the county.

But this could change under government plans to devolve power.

The seven district and borough councils in North Yorkshire, including Harrogate Borough Council, would prefer to create an east / west model of local government.

NYCC prefer having a unitary authority for the county, which Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, said would offer the best outcome for older and vulnerable people in the area.

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Mr Padgham said effective county-wide social care services already existed built on years of close working between the local authority and independent providers of social care. He added:

“It would seem pointless and unnecessary to dismantle this.

“NYCC is looking to bring in more investment and more decision-making power to a single authority, which can only be a positive move forward for the overall future of North Yorkshire.

“The proposal from NYCC for a single unitary authority provides the best option for facing and overcoming those challenges.”

Speaking on behalf of the seven district and borough councils, Keane Duncan, leader of Ryedale District Council, told the Stray Ferret it was “surprising and disappointing” that the ICG has backed NYCC’s proposal.

He added:

“ICG’s support for a mega-council is particularly disappointing too when they have not engaged with us about their views, aspirations and concerns for the future of care in our county.

“We would welcome the opportunity to share with them how our alternative to a mega-council can best support care providers, and those who need care, not only in North Yorkshire, but in the City of York too.”

 

Care home visits in district may be allowed after October

North Yorkshire County Council may allow visits to care homes after this month following a backlash from upset relatives.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at the council, wrote to care homes this week advising them to halt routine visits throughout October.

This prompted some members of the public, as well as Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, to say visits should be allowed to go ahead.

At a press briefing yesterday, Mr Webb said the council would set up a working group with relatives and care home providers to investigate ways that allowed people to visit homes after this month.

One possible solution, he said, would be to allow a nominated person to visit.

But Mr Webb added he “could not make any promises”.

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One Harrogate resident, whose 99-year-old mother has dementia and is in a local home, contacted the Stray Ferret to say care home residents deserved better. She said:

“It is sheer cruelty and tragic to not address this problem and leave our loved ones to live out their last days alone and severely depressed, as is happening now.

“What we desperately need is adequate testing, which would enable one key visitor, who should be tested and treated in the same way as staff, to be allocated with unlimited access to each resident.’

The resident was critical of Mr Jones’ suggestion to Parliament that visits could take place behind glass screens or windows.

She said it would add to the confusion and frustration felt by residents with dementia, adding:

“It would most likely seriously distress them and add to the cruelty of this situation.”

Allow care home visits, says Andrew Jones MP

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has told Parliament visits to care homes should be allowed.

Speaking in a Covid debate yesterday, Mr Jones said several constituents “desperate to see their loved ones” had raised concerns about current restrictions with him.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that Harrogate woman Judy Bass had joined a group called Rights for Residents that campaigns against restrictions.

Mr Jones said Ms Bass, along with Dr Joanne Ridpath, Helen Owens, Anna McIntee and others had raised the matter.

Mr Jones said:

“These families are just desperate to see their loved ones and have truly heartbreaking stories.

“Balancing wellbeing and isolation is very difficult but the emotional consequences of no visits are absolutely profound.”

North Yorkshire County Council this week advised care homes in the county to end routine visits in October. Thousands more care homes nationally are also forbidding visits.

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The Conservative MP suggested visits could be allowed through glass or windows.

“While this is impersonal, it is clearly better for people to see their loved ones than not.

“Perhaps designated very close family members in limited numbers could be given staff status, which would allow them access to testing and could then allow a degree of home access.

“Nobody is suggesting an open-door policy, but right now, the restrictions are profound.

“The capacity for residents to understand what is going on and why they cannot see their loved ones is almost inevitably limited, yet the need to see their loved ones is so important.’

Mr Jones also said told the debate that civil liberties were being compromised during Covid and decisions needed parliamentary scrutiny. Some backbench Tory MPs have expressed similar concerns. He said:

“A transparent approach to the science and decision making is necessary to ensure that we take people with us. If we do, and if they understand why a decision has been taken, I think we will see greater compliance, allowing people to resume their lives safely.”

 

Harrogate care homes urged to end routine visits in October

Care homes in Harrogate have been advised to halt routine visits throughout October to protect residents from covid.

North Yorkshire County Council director of health and adult services Richard Webb has written to every care provider in the county asking them to introduce the restriction from Thursday due to rising coronavirus infection rates.

Mr Webb recommended that families and friends visiting residents at the end of their lives should still be allowed to do so.

A similar restriction was brought in earlier this month for seven days.

Mr Webb tweeted:

“This is a step I was very reluctant to take but against a backdrop of rising community infection rates, we need to act now.”

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Mr Webb said in future he would like care homes to operate a nominated visitor scheme whereby a named visitor gets tested regularly so they can continue visiting.

However, he said national problems with testing availability “make that unrealistic at the moment”.

Mr Webb added on Twitter:

“We will look at alternative options to see what we can do to help providers find a better way forward. Balancing #Covid protection versus residents’ #mentalhealth is one of the toughest dilemmas.”

Mike Padgham, chair of the provider organisation The Independent Care Group, said:

“It is regrettable that home visits have to stop but we have to do everything we can, with North Yorkshire County Council, to prevent the spread of coronavirus to the older and vulnerable people we care for.”

Care home visits to be restricted across Harrogate

Visits to care homes across the Harrogate District will be restricted after a rise in coronavirus cases.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said homes in Harrogate, Scarborough and Selby will be asked to restrict visits for the next seven days.

It follows a rise in cases in North Yorkshire which led to the county declaring a “major incident” earlier this week.

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Mr Webb apologised for the measure, but added it was “necessary” in light of increased cases.

He said in a series of tweets last night:

“Tonight am writing letters to care homes, asking some of them to restrict visiting in some areas because of rising tide of covid cases.

“Please do all you can to prevent the spread of this virus so that care homes don’t have to go into lockdown.

“We are asking care homes in three areas (Harrogate, Selby and Scarborough districts) to restrict care home visiting for the next seven days and will then be reviewed. I am sorry to do this but it is a necessary precaution because of rising covid-19 infections”

Just to clarify: we are asking care homes in 3 areas (Harrogate, Selby and Scarborough districts) to restrict care home visiting for the next 7 days and will then be reviewed. I am sorry to do this but it is a necessary precaution because of rising #COVID19 infections 1/2

— Richard Webb (@RichardWebbNY) September 17, 2020

Mr Webb said the measure would be reviewed after the seven day period.

He added that the county council will set up a task group with care providers, care home residents and the county council to develop a more secure way to enable visits.

No further Covid deaths in district’s care homes or hospital

For the second week running, there have been no further Covid-related deaths in care homes across the Harrogate district.

Figures released today, which cover the weekly period up to July 17, show the number of deaths in the district’s care homes since the start of the pandemic remains at 104.

Meanwhile, Harrogate District NHS Foundation Trust has also not recorded any deaths in patients with covid for the 13th consecutive day. The total number of deaths at the hospital since the outbreak began is 82.

Data released today by NHS England shows that a further 12 people who had tested positive for the coronavirus have died, including one in the North East and Yorkshire. They were aged between 45 and 99, and all had known underlying health conditions.

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Harrogate district care homes pass 100 coronavirus deaths

Care homes in the Harrogate district have now reported more than 100 coronavirus deaths among their residents. It is a grim milestone for the local care sector.

The latest ONS data, which only accounts for deaths up to July 3, revealed that there have been 104 deaths. That number is where coronavirus is mentioned on the death certificate.

It is different from the NHS England data from hospitals where the deaths are only added to the tally when coronavirus is deemed to be the cause of death.

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Currently, Harrogate District Hospital has recorded 81 coronavirus deaths. That is according to NHS England data from yesterday.

This new ONS data revealed that there have been four extra deaths at the hospital. That difference is where coronavirus is on the death certificate but not necessarily the cause of death.

It also revealed that there have been five deaths at homes, one death at hospices, and two more deaths at “other communal establishments.”