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COVID - ONE YEAR ON

The Covid pandemic is a worldwide crisis that has brought unprecedented challenges to the U.K. and around the world. Children, adults, elderly, from the cradle to the grave, no one has been left unaffected. Care Campaign for the Vulnerable was founded eight years ago to help and support families in care homes. Since this crisis started we have seen our workload escalate as we walk the path with families that have suffered anxiety and desperation after being told they couldn't visit loved ones in care homes.

Just a small percentage of the very many families CCFTV supported during the Covid pandemic in care homes and included in our calling for a public inquiry

Families came to our organisation utterly bereft saying they could no longer regularly visit to help stimulate, emotionally support and assist with care including feeding, help with medication and personal care. Care partners were crucial in helping keep an eye on elderly relatives as well as raising concerns on their health and wellbeing to staff. Since lockdown began and the ceasing of care home visitation, the government left the decision of safe visits to providers.

At the start, we understood why the government may have decided to do this. Care Providers are familiar with the areas and can work with the local authority but in countless cases brought to us families were advised that care homes were, in fact, closing their doors, as well as windows and care partners now deemed a “risk”. Families questioned were they more of a risk then care staff mixing and going home to their families at the end of their working day? The government said a family member could visit elderly loved ones at the end of their life, but we know this didn’t always happen.

CCFTV support families that told us some care providers wouldn’t allow this vital contact and they were left devastated as loved ones took their final breath alone. Staff reported that residents were not eating or drinking and when a close family member/care partner begged to go in to help assist, these requests were denied when management said they were only following the “government guidelines”.

It was also reported to CCFTV that elderly with underlying health conditions being refused medical attention and often a delay in calling an ambulance and let’s not forget the shortsightedness and stupidity of the transfer of untested pensioners to care homes from hospitals. The whole scandal of no visits can be traced back to that decision as Covid started to tear through care homes. The devastation this crisis has brought to our elderly community has been more than just the Covid virus itself.

This without a doubt will have a life long negative impact on family members both young and old that were stopped from hugging or being with elderly parents, grandparents as they became much frail. We of course accept the majority of care professionals, NHS, have done absolutely sterling work during this pandemic as well as working under extreme pressure.

But one year on and on the National Day of Reflection, we say, these mistakes must never happen again.