Today’s  Observer (May 3rd) says in an editorial that the Care home death toll is “an indictment of our society”. They are right.

The Observer newspaper says that the Government “acted far too late to prevent a dire situation” in our care homes. The Daily telegraph suggests that 17,000 may have already died in care homes while in England, almost a third have reported coronavirus outbreaks.

This throws into sharp relief the warning of the new President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, James Bullion, that the situation in care services is getting worse.

ADASS blames the spread of the disease in care homes on “paltry” levels of personal protective equipment provided since the outbreak began.

The shocking, tragic, failure to heed warnings from Italy and Spain combined with this abysmal lack of PPE is scandalous.  But it also underlines the point I have been making that split Care Service /NHS provision is a catastrophe.

But on a positive note – and illustrative of why we need a Natioanl Care Service to sit alongside the NHS – and how lives are saved when joint expertise is shared view this remarkable story from Friday’s Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/care-home-nurses-swine-flu-practice-helps-to-save-13-lives-lpspb7pjk

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Also see:

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/23/house-of-lords-virtual-debate-on-covid-19-and-the-impact-on-care-homes-april-23rd-2019-when-will-care-homes-be-provided-with-adequate-supplies-of-ppe-and-their-staff-routinely-and-regularly-tested/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/03/19/house-of-lords-debate-on-hong-kong-china-and-coronavirus-why-suppressing-information-rather-than-the-virus-has-cost-lives-and-set-back-the-time-required-time-to-develop-a-vaccine-the-heroism-of-wu/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/03/24/coronavirus-questions-and-letters-to-ministers-since-february-availability-of-drugs-to-treat-symptoms-lack-of-ventilators-and-protective-clothing-for-nhs-medics-the-need-for-more-rapid-testing/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/03/28/recent-written-questions-and-answers-in-parliament-by-david-alton/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/02/coronavirus-ministers-challenged-about-delays-in-testing-drugs-replies-about-how-infections-occur-and-the-production-of-more-ventilators/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/02/coronavirus-government-replies-about-the-benefits-of-the-use-of-tocilizumab-in-the-treatment-of-severe-cases-of-interstitial-pneumonia-linked-to-covid-19-the-current-availability-of-ventilators-in/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/02/dr-jon-hastie-has-duchene-muscular-dystrophy-facing-the-prospect-of-a-refusal-to-treat-him-if-he-contracts-coronavirus-he-says-please-dont-let-people-like-me-die-without-giving-s-a/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/02/burmese-cardinal-speaks-out-of-asia-for-asia-and-the-world-says-chinas-lies-and-propaganda-have-put-millions-of-lives-around-the-world-in-danger-that-instead-of-profiting-from-the-pandem/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/13/the-government-must-urgently-release-details-of-covid-deaths-in-care-homes-and-support-their-staff-britain-needs-a-national-care-service-with-thousands-dying-parliament-is-missing-in-action/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/21/covid-19-the-government-repeatedly-says-it-is-fallowing-the-science-but-why-some-science-and-not-other-science-in-a-parliamentary-reply-they-say-that-they-have-not-been-in-direct-contac/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/25/julie-bass-chief-executive-of-turning-point-says-making-an-advance-decision-not-to-administer-cpr-if-a-persons-heart-stops-solely-because-they-have-a-learning-disability-is-not-o/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/29/in-questions-today-in-parliament-i-ask-the-government-what-scientific-advice-was-sought-from-public-health-england-before-the-football-match-between-liverpool-and-atletico-madrid-on-11-march-was-permi/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/30/parliament-urged-to-decentralise-powers-to-successfully-fight-covid-19-contract-tracing-and-detailed-on-the-ground-management-should-not-be-done-by-whitehall-disraeli-and-churchill-were-right-that/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/04/30/covid-without-safety-nets-facing-coronavirus-from-a-place-of-destitution-and-despair-a-reflection-for-liverpool-parish-church-50-days-of-easter-this-is-a-moment-to-put-the-genius/

https://www.davidalton.net/2020/05/01/under-the-cloak-of-darkness-how-covid19-can-be-used-as-a-cover-to-curb-individual-rights-and-freedoms-which-parliament-must-defend-temporary-losses-must-not-become-permanent-the-coronavirus-crisis/