Issue - meetings

This agenda item refers to work undertaken to better understand the rate of deaths from COVID-19 in care homes in B&NES, during the second wave of the pandemic in 2020-2021.

Councillor Alison Born introduced this item to the Panel. She explained that this report follows on from the interim report that had been previously submitted to the Panel that looked at a wider section of data regarding the pandemic and showed that whilst there was a higher than expected number of deaths within Care Homes, there was a low number of deaths within hospitals from Covid-19.

She said that this was a pattern that had been in place for some time locally with many people choosing for their end-of-life care to be with their own home or place of residence.

She said that a decision was taken to ask for an independent review to be undertaken to look at more detailed local data, and also qualitative data by speaking to people who had been working in the Care Homes during the pandemic. She added that she did not feel that any large concerns had been identified in the report, but that it does give an insight into what it was like at the time and what points can be learned in preparation for any such events in the future.

Theresa Redaniel addressed the Panel and shared some presentation slides. These slides will be attached as an online appendix to these minutes, a summary is set out below.

What is an Applied Research Collaboration or ARC?

·  Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the nation’s largest funder of health and care research.

·  ARCs support applied health and care research that responds to the needs of local populations and health and care systems.

·  NIHR ARC West is one of 15 ARCs across England, part of a £135 million investment by the NIHR over five years.

·  Collaborations of local partners, including providers of NHS and care services, commissioners, local authorities, universities, companies and charities.

·  The research is done in collaboration with the partners as well as the public and communities.

What is applied research?

·  Applied health research aims to address the immediate issues facing the health and social care system.

·  ARC researchers do research that addresses the needs of the health and care system, the people who use services and other communities.

The research problem

·  Impact of COVID in care homes – cases 13 times higher than in the community.

·  Vulnerable population – higher risk of death & high number of deaths in care homes.

·  High death rates in care homes in B&NES – in comparison with similar areas.

The research aims

·  Determine why B&NES appears to have higher death rates from COVID in care homes compared to other locations.

·  Whether there are specific risk factors associated with COVID-19 infections and deaths in care-homes within B&NES.

·  To examine what learning from the first and second wave of the pandemic can be used to improve policy and practice.

Study design

·  Quantitative 

o  Risk factors for high COVID infection rates/death, e.g.

§  Care home size / Care home type / Care home ownership / Engagement with B&NES Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117