Care homes were pressured to take Covid-19 patients at the height of crisis while residents were regularly refused treatment from hospitals and GPs, according to a study by Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI).
A survey by the nursing charity of 163 care home nurses and managers conducted between May and June found 43 per cent of homes received patients discharged from hospitals who were not tested for Covid-19 during March and April.
Published by the Independent, the study also recorded a fifth of respondents saying they had received a patient discharged from hospital who was Covid-19 positive.
One nurse reported to QNI said they were under “constant pressure to admit people who were Covid-positive”. Another noted that “the acute sector pushed us to take untested admission”.
The research of homes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland also found one in four homes said it was difficult to get hospital treatment for residents, while a third reported problems accessing GPs and district nurses.
The study meanwhile noted GPs and local managers placed unlawful do not resuscitate orders on residents in some homes.
One nurse stated such guidelines would “automatically” apply to all suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients.
QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman (pictured) told the paper that the findings of the survey were at stark odds with the government’s claim to have placed a protective ring around care homes.
“The care being delivered in a home can at times be as intensive as in a hospital – in particular for end-of-life care – and it is hugely skilled work. These homes need to be equal partners, not abandoned and not have things done to them,” she added.
