West Norfolk care home boss calls for more support for 'heroes' in social care sector

The boss of a company which runs a care home in Downham has written to the Government calling for more support for the social care sector.

Daya Thayan, chief executive of Kingsley Healthcare which operates Downham Grange, said his frontline staff going into homes and looking after residents were “his heroes” but said the Government could do more to help.

And a spokesman for the company confirmed that three residents of Downham Grange who had been suffering from coronavirus are among those who have died at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Four further residents are currently in hospital – three having tested positive for Covid-19 and the fourth showing symptoms.

No more residents in the home have developed symptoms but everyone is being kept in isolation as a precaution.

It comes as the Government promised this week that all care home residents and staff with Covid-19 symptoms will be tested for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Downham Grange spokesman said staff are adhering to Government guidelines, wearing masks at all times and using full personal protective equipment (PPE) in the case of residents showing symptoms.

The spokesman said they want to assure relatives and staff that the safety of everyone connected to the home is their priority, and they have a comprehensive contingency plan and strict control measures in place to minimise risk.

“We are working closely with public health officials and regulators to understand more fully how Covid-19 was contracted,” he added.

“Meanwhile, we have deep cleaned the home as a precautionary measure and will be closely monitoring residents and staff for symptoms.”

Mr Thayan added: “Our thoughts at this moment are with our residents who have been affected and their families.

“I would like to praise the magnificent way staff at the home, led by senior Kingsley colleagues, have responded to the situation. Everyone’s focus is on safeguarding the welfare of our residents and staff.”

Other homes in the area have also been sharing the latest on their situations.

A spokeswoman for Healthcare Homes, which operates Meadow House in Swaffham, said: “Being part of a wider group, Meadow House Nursing Home receives the personal protection equipment that is required from the group’s central office, which sources PPE for all of its services. It is fortunate to have stocks of PPE, but are of course continuing to source more on an ongoing basis.

“It is worth noting that the home has kindly received various donations of additional stocks such as face masks and shields from individuals and businesses across the county, which helps to bolster supplies – and for which they are very grateful.”

And manager of Somerset Villa in Hunstanton, Gaynor Rawstron: “We are fine, the people who deliver our PPE are still keeping us up to date, plus extra deliveries have been coming in. We also have extra aprons.”

It comes after new figures shared this week have revealed the death toll across the UK, as of April 3, included just two-thirds of those who had died of Covid-19.

The Government’s daily deaths tally includes just those who lost their lives to the virus while in hospital – but data from the Office for National Statistics, which is released weekly, showed that there were 6,235 deaths involving the virus up to April 3 (registered up to April 11) anywhere in England and Wales compared to 4,093 in hospitals at the same stage.

Closer to home, the latest figures for patients discharged from Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital after recovering from coronavirus is 61.

And the latest data from NHS England, published today, shows that 10 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported at the hospital in the last week. The total of coronavirus deaths there is now at 51.

Two deaths were reported at the QEH on Saturday, with four more on Sunday and another four on Monday.

But medical director Frankie Swords, told BBC Radio Norfolk’s Breakfast Show, on Wednesday that staff were still coping.