Care home residents are dying of thirst during coronavirus lockdown – not necessarily Covid, experts warn

EXPERTS have warned that residents in care homes are dying of thirst and neglect during the coronavirus lockdown rather than the virus itself.

A study looking at deaths in French care homes found that deaths in one home, where more than 24 Covid-19 fatalities were recorded in a five day period were down to a significant loss of blood and bodily fluids.

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Researchers who analysed data from the Île-de-France care home in the south of the country found that confinement was one of the main issues.

So far in the UK over 39,000 people have died from coronavirus in hospitals, official figures show.

This is while the Office for National Statistics reports that nearly 50,000 care home deaths were registered in the 11 weeks up to 22 May across England and Wales.

Despite this, not all deaths are down to Covid-19, with many of those cases just having the virus present in their body at the time of death.

One expert has now claimed that patients have been neglected due to the ongoing pandemic, as those in care homes continue to go unheard as attention continues to be focused on stopping the spread of the virus.

Professor Carl Heneghan who is the director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, said in old age people can lose their sense of thirst and could become dehydrated if they are not reminded to drink.

With attention being focused elsewhere the French study found that confinement of the residents led to “catastrophic consequences”.

Researchers found that respiratory distress had not been the main cause of deaths and found that fluid loss and hypovolemic shock were.

Speaking to The Sun, Professor Carl said: “When you are old you lose your thirst sensations, you literally forget to drink. If you have dementia then this multiplies.

“If you are confined to your room then you might not know how to look after yourself. You’re not seeing your family who would usually pop in and out to check you have eaten and that you’re alright, all of that’s gone.

“Then before you know it, that’s two days of not drinking and it’s a deadly spiral downwards”.

At the weekend, Prof Carl is a visiting GP and said this means he is often called out to care homes.

He said one of the main issues with care homes is the fact they have remained underfunded for so long.

“There is chronic underfunding and resourcing, you pay for what you get.

“Some homes will charge £1,600 per week while others stand at around £600 per week, private providers have the money to make sure they have what they need.”

DEADLY SPIRAL

Prof Carl said that it was clear at the beginning of March that the elderly were going to be vulnerable and said that as community spread went down, the spread within homes went up.

Today as of the week commencing 21 May nearly 40 per cent of care homes have had outbreaks and Prof Carl said we can’t start the “blame game” as this will not solve anything.

He said the focus now needs to be the 60 per cent of care homes that have not had outbreaks.

“It needs to be a national priority, we used to revere our elderly, but we now just shut them away and we are paying the price for that.

“Part of the modelling is that we need to take responsibility, moving people out of hospitals into care homes was a mistake”.

He added that patients should have had two or three negative tests before being sent to care homes and said the outbreak in care homes needed to be taken seriously.

“People in the homes are at risk and care staff coming and going are transmission risks. These people have to be part of a contact tracing system.

“If you’re working in a care home you shouldn’t be going to Tesco, these people need to be in a bubble and they can’t become part of the transmission.”

He said most homes don’t have the resources and added that the government should have paid more attention to hospitals instead of ventilators and Nightingale hospitals.

Many care workers had to move into care homes in order to protect residents and their loved ones from the spread of the virus and Prof Carl said the ones that are still living at home should be having their food sent to them by the government in order to curb transmission of the virus.

Last month the government announced a £600 million care package cash boost for care homes in order to get them through the crisis.

After announcing the new fund it said: “The government has written to councils and care providers outlining the details of the support package and has provided additional advice and resources to help stop the spread of infection”.