Care homes in Scarborough and Whitby set to take discharged Covid patients to ease pressure on hospitals

North Yorkshire County Council and the county’s three Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) are working together to create discharge beds at care homes in Scarborough and Whitby, as well as in other places in the county.

The homes taking part must be approved as suitable after inspection by the care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

One of the homes in Scarborough is Saint Cecilia’s Nursing Home, which also looked after discharged Covid-19 patients during the first wave of the virus.

Managing director Mike Padgham said: “It is vital we have somewhere safe that people can go to from hospital and we are proud to be able to offer that and to make our contribution to the county effort.

“We all have to work together to get through this second wave of coronavirus, particularly during this difficult time when cases in Scarborough are rising so rapidly.”

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Beverley Proctor, chief executive of the Independent Care Group, added: “After an appeal from the Department of Health and Social Care, some providers have agreed to take in Covid-19 patients when they are discharged from hospital.

“These providers go through rigorous scrutiny from local authorities, NHS commissioning groups and the Care Quality Commission.

“They are only accepted to take patients if they meet the extremely high standards required around infection prevention and control in the home.

“The social care sector is keen to support this action and quickly provide the right environment for people to recover from Covid-19 whilst protecting the rest of the community from the virus.”

This approach follows on from work that was undertaken within North Yorkshire during the first wave of the pandemic, where the county council, NHS and local care providers created “safer discharge” beds, provided separately in homes, to protect existing residents better.

Amanda Bloor, NHS North Yorkshire CCG accountable officer and chair of the North Yorkshire group of NHS and local government chief executives, said: “As the number of Covid patients in hospital beds in and around North Yorkshire continues to rise, it’s vital that older and disabled adults, who are otherwise medically fit to be discharged, have a place to go to where they can be cared for and looked after.

“The CQC has set stringent protocols which residential care and nursing home providers must meet before they are permitted to take in hospital patients with a Covid-19 diagnosis and I know there has been considerable effort to meet these high standards and maintain a separation between Covid-confirmed residents and those who are Covid-free.”