www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-social-care-nhs-homes-nurses-a9444886.html
Coronavirus: Britain faces a care crisis that could overwhelm the NHS
Britain can only protect the health service if the care sector takes some of the strain. But homes across the country are already buckling under pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Shaun Lintern
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Coronavirus: Britain faces a care crisis that could overwhelm the NHS
Britain can only protect the health service if the care sector takes some of the strain. But homes across the country are already buckling under pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Shaun Lintern
Britain’s fractured and underfunded social care system is at risk of collapsing within weeks due to pressure from coronavirus – piling further strain onto hospitals, an investigation by The Independent has found.
Across the country, care providers say they have been pushed to the brink of closure because some local councils are refusing to release emergency funding made available by the government, while many face staff shortages, a lack of equipment and too few nurses to care for extra patients being discharged by the NHS.
Some care-home managers have warned that the vulnerable or elderly who fall ill may be all but abandoned by local NHS services, with reports of unlawful do-not-resuscitate orders being put in place by some GPs.