Shocked about death in care homes **MNHQ content warning**

[happyandsingle]

Just this.Cannot believe how care home residents and staff have been thrown to the wolves.
Everything focused on the NHS it's like the elderly didnt matter.
Feel ashamed how we treat our elderly and even if the government act now in my opinion it's to late as to many lives have been lost.
To think the goverment need to be held accountable for this.

@cantory

I don't think it's a bone fide policy, I don't think it could be, but it definitely happened in the homes I worked in.
Someone would be discharged and we'd then end up ringing the GP as they were ill to be told yes, we know they've got X don't you? You need to barrier nurse.
You can't barrier nurse effectively without the right equipment or enough staff both of which you rarely have . Only one place I worked followed the procedure for an outbreak of norovirus. Isolated to rooms, extra staff on duty and assigned to the noro cases only. Funnily enough it was the smallest home I worked in, it had old furniture, didn't have the greatest decor or fanciest plates. But the food was all home cooked and amazing, most staff been there 5 years plus and some 25 years service, they really cared those owners about the residents, staff and families.
Unlike the bigger ones run by companies that were all full of talk but unwilling to provide the money to back it.

In a care home it's surely impossible to keep residents 2 metres apart and the staff have got no chance. Added to that the age of the residents and surely it's obvious they'll be a high number of deaths. I do feel very sorry for the care workers and residents along with all the families and absolutely think they should have PPE .
Even then though I still think there would be a high death rate just because having a large number of older (or any age really)people together is going to mean the virus is passed from one to another and these are already vulnerable people.

@unworthie My grandmother was in a care home for years where she was very happy. The bedrooms were small, furniture was basic, but staff were great.
There is a lot of criticism of private care homes on this thread. It was a government policy to encourage the private sector to provide care while closing multiple local authority care homes. That is because it costs less. Anyone involved in this in government will know that most care homes do not have enough money to properly barrier nurse someone with covid 19.And that they are reliant on agency staff.
If the government wanted to protect these people it would have had a policy and plan of action to protect them.

YANBU. Shit stinks.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-admission-and-care-of-people-in-care-homes

Says it all really.

So what they meant was it would help to save young peoples lives.

How can you say goverment not responsible after reading this?

But why should anyone have to be sacrificed?

in the home my family member works in ALL the residents are confined to their rooms and the only contact they are having is with their key worker or other carer.

Until testing is done in care homes of residents and staff. We will not know who is infected and who isn't. Then there is the families, who will need testing as well.

Have to agree that it attracts a lot of foreign nationals sadly some that only do the job because quite frankly it's the only job they can get.

Now YABU

The nhs that have done it. Patient has covid symptoms but as in care send home.b4 ready not test etc. That's why it is like it is!

The care home companies should be held accountable.
They have a duty of care of their staff and should be providing PPE and training to a sufficient standard.
Good, experienced, caring staff must be like gold dust. How often do you see adverts for care staff with 'no experience necessary, full trying given'? Do you think that training is always up to scratch? I'm not convinced. I bet some of the less experienced staff were like lambs to the slaughter, not fully understanding the significance of their actions until it was too late.

It is the biggest shame of this entire situation. Their deaths are not important enough to be included in the daily coronavirus death toll.
The staff are treated appalling by the government.
In Ireland the government agreed to send in HSE care the last I read 95% were still waiting on help. My friends grandfather passed away in a care home, along with 3 other residents none of those affected got acute hospital treatment.
They are testing patients but doing the staff testing to a later date, senseless.
No one learnt from the abandoned care homes in Canada and Spain, it won't be long before staff walk away.

@LangClegsInSpace That is awful. Lambs to the slaughter for a tenner an hour.

Not even a tenner an hour.

@MustShowDH That is because the government give so little funding for each place. The government are responsible here. If the care homes were going to try and tackle covid 19 for people in their care with their own resources, they would simply have evicted care home residents paid for by local authorities. They would have said they can't do it at that level of funding.

The thing is, none of us is getting out of here alive. We are all going to die of something. Whilst it may be sad that old people in care homes have died, it is not a tragedy - a tragedy is a young person dying before their time. Old people in care homes have had a long life and their quality of life now is so low as to no longer be able to look after themselves. What kind of life is that?

The NHS can’t operate to throw infinite resources at every person to keep them alive for an extra 6 months or a year, maybe two. Especially if that is at the cost of a bed that could go to a younger person.

I just don’t get why people are up in arms about this - what exactly do they want the government to do? And how do they expect it to be funded? I think a lot of people need to get real about this - we can’t try to keep everyone alive forever - it’s not in anyone’s interest. I for one intend to take myself off to Dignitas before I ever need to step foot in a care home.

It's not a nice way to die though is it? The virus can cause a lot of suffering and then the residents can't even have their family there to say goodbye.
I'm not saying they want to live forever but they probably didnt want to die like this either.

I’m scared for a friend, she’s 36 and in a care home. Staff don’t wear PPE other than gloves and sometimes when talking they spit and it lands on my friend who is unable to wash. She’s very weak even without this

@Fr0thandBubble Clearly you don't care that thousands of old people have died before their time.
We are not talking about resources being thrown at them, just testing and isolation of those with covid 19 to stop lots of other patients being infected and dying.
And plenty of people in care homes still have good quality of life both elderly people and disabled people. My gran had many happy years living in a care home.
Simply because you need some physical help that does not mean that you can't enjoy life.

@DaisyDreaming That is scary.

@happyandsingle I would say the vast majority of deaths are “not very nice”, unless you’re lucky enough to go quietly in your sleep. And as for not having your family with you, that would be the same if they were in hospital wouldn’t it?

Why do people assume it is only elderly in care homes, there is a huge amount of residential care homes for young disabled adult's with familes who love them, teenagers, they've a good life in their eyes, plenty of structure and friendships within the home. It does matter that family members die alone, hallucinate gasping from breath with no family there to hold there hand. Staff can only be in the room for 15 minutes at a time. These people aren't surplus to requirement, people excusing it as they were frail anyway.
The government have people's mindset exactly where they want it.

We are all going to die of something. Whilst it may be sad that old people in care homes have died, it is not a tragedy Are you for fucking real. Dying alone gasping from breath no familiar faces, no one to hold your hand, a slow painful death alone. I think that is pretty tragic for anyone.
My DM wasn't old she was 69, yes she had under lying health issues but could have had 10 years, although she died alone in hospital not a care home.