Any carers in residential care with residents who ate Covid 19 positive

[Rescare]

As the title says, looking for advice on what carers working in residential care can to do if some of their residents have tested positive for Covid 19.

I’ve NC as I don’t want to be identified as it’s not public knowledge that some residents have tested positive.

I’m scared to go into work. We have aprons, gloves and face masks, not an infinite supply, and no face shields, we have soap, water and hand gel.

Can anyone reassure me, tell me how it’s working if you are in the same situation. My children are cared for by their grandparents when I am at work. They are not elderly.

What should my employer do, what should I expect.

One carer thinks she caught it from her only contact with a positive patient - she was clipping her finger nails. So less than 15 min contact.

I'm pretty sure the 15 minute guideline is to make it SEEM as if PHE and the govt are doing something for care home workers. The efficacy of it is debatable.

No support no counselling. We are on minimum wage and are expected to get on with it or leave if you can’t cope. You learn very quickly that there is only one way out of a home for a resident. For some residents, they are so ill and in so much pain and distress that it is almost a blessing that they have died.
Anyone who thinks death is clean and pain free is in for a rude awakening- whilst it sometimes is a peaceful passing it more often isn’t. If you believe in a hereafter, you hope it’s a pain free for them.
Harsh but honestly it is the truth.

I also think it's very hard on the patients and families that no visiting is allowed, as in hospitals. I see some hospitals are looking into how this could be accomodated.

It is incredibly hard on them. No denying that it is mentally very challenging, especially for those with dementia. Sometimes it feels like cruelty. If we subjected our residents to this torment in normal times - we would rightly be prosecuted. It’s heart breaking that in order to protect them, we have to inflict this separation on families. Even normal activities cannot be held in the home - entertainers etc.

I really do think what is going on in care homes is a national disgrace: not enough PPE or medical support!

I work in a mental health unit which is tough enough as although we haven't yet had positive cases we've had a number of suspected and isolating mentally unwell people who don't understand is very challenging for staff. It's upsetting as well to see patients so confused and paranoia increasing because they have to be on their own.

I think care homes have it so much worse and it makes me very angry. I wish you all the best OP, keep safe and know that you are doing an amazing job💐

Hiya,

When the government were preaching about people isolating after coming back from holiday for 14days before returning to work, the care home I worked for brought several European workers over to work, straight into the care home company I work for. All they had to do is wait 14 days.... well, you guess what the outcome was although it can never be proven how it came into the home, you would think they would have tried everything they could to stop it coming in....I havent been in this job for long, I love it but its the hardest job I've ever had and carers just arent valued in my opinion. I'm not sure if after this is over that I can work for them again. The trust has gone...xx

14 residents died how is this not public knowledge. Have staff been infected too?

Yes minimum wage and totally under valued. When I started you needed NVQ2 minimum but there had to be NVQ3 on all floors. As a level 3 I was paid more but now everyone is on minimum wage.

I know some agency staff have minimum training and no qualifications and public opinion is that we are just a carer. I’m so much more than that to the Majority of people I help look after.

Rescare.

Some care homes want to keep it quiet and under wraps to how many people have died etc. Some arent even testing them.

Our care home has just made a statement but not particularly transparent.

@Rescare
Yes half the staff are or have been infected, but no staff deaths yet.
It’s not public knowledge in the sense of a news article or public statement. But the deaths are published in the obituaries with cause of death given.
Why isn’t it more widely known? People don’t read obituaries. Plus old people in care homes don’t tend to excite the masses. They are expected to die anyway. Some may be recorded as heart failure with covid. Care home deaths aren’t recorded in the daily figures either. There is quite a time lag for care home deaths to be included in the normal death rate anyway.
And -management are very practised at keeping things hushed up. Accomplished liars. To openly admit hi many deaths you have is very bad for future business. Would you put your loved one somewhere that recorded 14 deaths in two to three weeks ?
Care staff are too frightened of losing their job to openly complain. Whistle blowing is not encouraged. They do so only once they have left and then it is very easy for companies to claim it’s misrepresented and only hearsay.

I must just say. Care workers are amazing. It’s the management which let them down so badly.

@Bargebill19 unfortunately what you say is so true and if it was in the media owners and managers may have to explain why they put profit first, every time. And government would be exposed for the dire conditions they have created in the care sector for our elderly and vulnerable people.

Oh dear, Barge, the poor, poor staff. They must be desolate, run ragged and so so stressed.
There’s been at least one death in my DM’s care home. The team there say they do have enough PPE. It’s hard to know how to help.

Must European countries seem to be reporting covid-19 deaths of those hospitalised - there's some data indicating that the numbers of deaths in care homes is about the same again.
The ONS publish death starts weekly, which includes everyone but there's a bit of a time lag. The eventual excess deaths could be huge. A friend's who works in Critical care said they're concerned that people with appendicitis, strikes and heart attacks aren't coming to hospital.

mobile.twitter.com/ActuaryByDay/status/1249716000112750597

In case you haven't seen this already

The advice above has some ideas - perhaps showing as soon as you get home may help. Wear your hair up and cover it if possible.

We are terrified. That’s the bottom line. Being stressed is normal - that we can cope with.
Honestly? - you can’t really help as there isn’t anything that can be done to change what we face. Saying thank you does help though!
We don’t have enough PPE or even a building fit for purpose - no en-suites, equipment that need replacing etc
We would love honest management who don’t like this to “dealing with salmonella infected chicken” ffs. It would be nice if they helped doing the care now we are so short on staff, it would be amazing if they acknowledged the work we do and said thank you.
I hope everyone gets to the other side of this crisis. That would be enough.

I'm so sorry Rescare. You and all care staff are doing such important work, very upsetting to hear you are not protected adequately and are so undervalued.

Heartfelt best wishes.

Thank you @OnTheEdgeOfTheNight that is helpful.

We don't have staff showers at work, unbelievable to think there are no staff facilities even in the normal day to day running of a care home.

I saw care homes and deaths on the news for the first time this morning, but it was a brief mention.

Only a few of our residents have en suites the rest are communal, because you can fit more beds on to a communal floor so more money for the owner.

Thank you for appreciating what we do.

I am self-employed with no work at the moment and my likely grant from the government will be much lower than my income over the last year (less than 50%) as I was newly SE and picked up alot of new work in the last year.

I have been offered a job in a care home, although not care but elsewhere and financially need to take it as I'm on my own and being SE in the leisure sector, think this will be one of the last areas to re-open so could be 3 or even 6 months without work.

Scotland announced nearly a third of its care homes have at least one COVID case already. It's a scandal that the UK government isn't counting care home deaths in its covid figures

Just wanted to say thank you for all you are doing

it must be terrifying for you and you deserve so much more (recognition, support, equipment and financial reward)

It’s scandalous that care homes are being‘forgotten’ like this, makes me furious.

My mother is in a care home and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the carers.

Thank you so much

Following with interest. Left job in a nursing home last summer. I really feel for my old colleagues. Good luck to all care home staff.

My own view is that you will not get the true number of deaths from the disease until the deaths in months March, April, etc are compared to deaths in the same months but for previous years (ie the 'excess' deaths - What a horrible term).
This will then allow for those whose death is incorrectly recorded, and those whose cancer treatment has been postponed, but who therefore died of something else.
Obviously taking into account population levels - by which I mean, if you compare to previous years, then you have to know that the population was roughly the same.
Comparisons to other countries would need to take into account population density, age, sex and ethnicity (it seems to affect some groups more than others).
Only then will we have a true picture of the deaths