Care Homes: Coronavirus

(asked on 29th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether patients who have not tested positive for covid-19 should be discharged from hospitals or referred from community settings to care homes where there are confirmed cases of that virus; what reports he has received of such (i) hospital discharges and (ii) referrals to care homes; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 14th May 2020

The safety of residents and staff is a priority. We announced in our Adult Social Care Action Plan on 15 April 2020, that testing will be provided to all care home residents before they are discharged from hospital into a care home, we will also move to testing residents being referred from the community to ensure that they can receive appropriate care.

The ‘Admission and Care of Residents during COVID-19 Incident in a Care Home’, published on 2 April 2020 sets out guidance on infection control and cohorting advice to care homes. All residents, whether COVID-positive or not, can be safely cared for in a care home if appropriate infection control, isolation and cohorting advice is followed.

If appropriate isolation/cohorted care is not available with a local care provider, the individual’s local authority will be asked to secure alternative appropriate accommodation and care for the remainder of the required isolation period.

This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we will continue to review our guidance in line with scientific advice.

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