Holding the government to account for Covid-19 care home deaths

But perhaps if you've had a family member die in that awful week in April in a care home and you hear the health minister repeatedly state that hes putting his arms around the care system you would want at the very least to know what he meant by this soundbite.

No, he won't be able to sort it Blinko.
Not up against that lot.

So when Hancock promises to sort the social care system so that the complete shambles that has been evident in recent weeks 'cannot happen again', will he be allowed to get on with it? What are the chances?

Can we take it that the long awaited review of Social Care (mooted long before Covid-19) being continually kicked into the long grass is down to these shadowy-but-powerful hedge funds managers and their ilk?

This is the hard earned cash of older people and their families that's being syphonned off into the pockets of the rich.

Disgraceful!

Perhaps news from 7 months ago is slightly out-of-date, GGUmpteenth and I know things have changed rapidly but this report was from November 2019:

^Care home operators are making up to £1.5bn a year in profits with hundreds of millions of pounds going to offshore investors, a think tank has discovered.

Many of the firms that provide most of the UK’s 465,000 care home beds are owned or backed by hedge funds, while some of the biggest are based in overseas tax havens.

The Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI) estimated that £1.5bn a year – 10 per cent of the care home industry’s £15bn income – “leaks” in the form of rent, dividend payments, loans, directors’ fees, and profits – money not going to front line care. The CHPI report said it is “very difficult” to find out where the £15bn spent on care homes each year goes.^

inews.co.uk/news/health/care-home-operators-billions-pounds-profits-hedge-funds-360816

These investors and owners have to take some responsibility.

Callistemon I'm not sure what the owners could have done when there was insistence that they receive back untested patients, the government insisted that PPE ordered for Care Homes was redirected to the NHS with the cost of PPE to the homes then rocketing and the government delaying instruction on lockdown to the Homes came far too late.

Your information seems to be completely out of date. There may still be the odd home making excessive profits but I think you will go a long way to find them. Care home closures exceeded openings for the eighth consecutive year in 2019 as the number of new facilities fell to a record low rate, despite a rapidly ageing population. Most of this is because the local authorities have had so much money withdrawn they will only offer under the going rate for those who need to be in care.

Care is not only in Care Homes; it would be wrong to assume it is. Again, those carers in the community have had rates lowered so much that many companies will now not work for the LAs. Those that do are often just scrapping by and we see many of them closing too.

Today we spoke to someone who is such a fan of Boris Johnson.

He actually believes that the appalling death statistics in the UK , compared with most other countries in the world is just due to "luck" not judgement. The very many leaders all over the world who made good as opposed to bad judgements were, according to him , just lucky!

I am also curious about hospital discharges back to care homes rosenoir Hospitals had isolated units for patients diagnosed or awaiting diagnosis results. Care homes had no such arrangements at the beginning - nor sufficient PPE. Therefore the virus went rampant.

But the elephant in the room is as Callistemon touches on - a large proportion of Care Homes (and Home Care companies)are privately owned and the government prioritised getting PPE to their Nhs hospital staff (albeit rather slowly), and then looked to doing the same for Care Home and Carer’s sector.

I’m unsure where the blame will lie?

It was the hospitals that sent elderly back to care homes,knowing or suspecting that they had Covid. Is that being looked into.

About 84% of care homes in the UK are own by equity firms ie private investors, bankers and by millionaire owners etc.

Where were these shadowy figures when they were needed? Why weren't some of their profits spent on the correct equipment for their staff?

There has just been some fairly fierce questioning in one of the parliamentary committees.

Thanks for the link I have passed this around my family and friends. I too want to scream when Mr Hancock repeatedly says they put their arms around the care home sector . Its just so blatantly untrue.

The CQC needs to be held to account their part in this has been pure neglect.