Derbyshire care homes where three hundred died of COVID-19 after “unlawful” hospital discharges

Casualties of pandemic policy revealed.

Sylvia Jackson, 87, passed away in a care home in Buxton on April 17th, 2020

Official figures have revealed that three hundred residents of Derby and Derbyshire care homes died from COVID-19 as patients infected with the disease were "unlawfully" sent from hospitals back to where they lived.

The data, published by the Care Quality Commission and Office for National Statistics, says that the deaths of 274 people living in Derby and Derbyshire care homes were “caused by coronavirus” at the height of the pandemic.

The Care Quality Commission says sixty-seven succumbed to the illness in Derby care homes, while another 207 residents passed away in homes in the rest of the county.

The death totals came between April 10th and June 1st, 2020, before a policy of discharging elderly patients back to their care homes without being assessed for COVID-19 was dropped. The procedure was aimed at freeing up NHS beds.

This practice was considered “unlawful” in April this year by the High Court in London. As reported in the Guardian, the judges criticised the Government’s “irrational" failure to advise that "where an asymptomatic patient (other than one who had tested negative) was admitted to a care home, he or she should, as far as practical, be kept apart from other residents for 14 days”.

Out of those Derbyshire care homes included in the statistics, the most deaths occurred at Oakford Manor Nursing Home in Hadfield, Glossop (15). Meanwhile, fourteen residents passed from COVID-19 at Morton Grange in Alfreton, and twelve at Bluebell Park in Chellaston, says the Care Quality Commission.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed in 2020 that at least 472 Derbyshire and Burton hospital patients were discharged to care homes without being assessed for COVID-19.

This week Lindsay Jackson, whose mother, Sylvia Jackson, 87, passed away in a care home in Buxton on April 17th, 2020, said: “My mother died in residential care. How can it be possible that her government acted 'unlawfully' and 'irrationally' in allowing the discharge of patients potentially carrying a lethal virus into homes where our most vulnerable people live?

“What does that say about Johnson and his cabinet? They and their advisers were stupid in thinking these vulnerable people were not at risk, or they did not care.

“Having seen how they behaved in Number 10 Downing Street when the rest of us were in lockdown, I suspect they did not care. I will never forgive the other bereaved families for their callous indifference.”

A spokesperson from Derbyshire County Council, which manages twenty-three care homes across the county, said: “Every death of a care home resident is a sad event, and the circumstances and causes are always investigated.

“Partners across Derbyshire worked closely throughout the pandemic, going over and above the requirements from Government in many areas, including discharges from hospital.

“We welcome the transparency provided by the Office for National Statistics figures and look forward to the forthcoming national public enquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A spokesperson from University Hospitals Derby and Burton said: “As this was a High Court ruling regarding Government policy, this is not something our Trust will comment on.”

A spokesperson from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “Our thoughts are with all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. We have aimed to protect the public from the threat to life and health posed by COVID-19 and specifically sought to safeguard care home residents.