Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Care England and the British Medical Association told us that the contingency planning process for...
Conclusion
Care England and the British Medical Association told us that the contingency planning process for a pandemic appeared to focus on the NHS at the expense of the social care sector despite some of the most vulnerable people being in social care. Care England told us this lack of planning included discharging 25,000 patients from hospitals into care homes, some without first testing them for COVID-19, even after it became clear that people could transmit the virus without ever having symptoms. In our report Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak we previously highlighted that for around one month NHS trusts had been told to discharge medically-fit hospital patients before there was a policy to test patients for COVID-19 before discharging them to care homes. It considered this had contributed to the 20,000 deaths of people in care homes during the first wave of the pandemic. Care England told us that it was only after the high number of deaths became clear, that there was recognition that people in care homes were at the frontline of the pandemic.38 Care England also highlighted the high mortality rates among people with learning disabilities and told us domiciliary care and learning disabilities services appeared to be of a lower priority than other types of care when PPE was being distributed. The Department told us that it had now set up an e-portal, and that over 80% of eligible social care providers, including care homes and domiciliary care agency, and primary care providers had registered to use it to obtain free PPE.39 The experience of frontline staff
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4: PAC conclusion: The Department’s focus on supporting hospitals meant assistance to social care providers was neglected. 4: PAC recommendation: The Department should write to the Committee by the end of April 2021 to explain how it will revise its emergency response plans so that they include who will be supported, how and when. This must give appropriate weight to all sectors of health and social care, as well as occupations outside these sectors which are also at risk. 4. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 4.2 Protecting the social care sector has been a government priority throughout the pandemic. The government provided a diverse support package to the social care sector, starting with a 7 million-item push to support immediate shortages. Support was further bolstered out through dedicated wholesales, release of PPE to local resilience forums and setting up of the National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR) hotline. By April 2020, a PPE Portal was being piloted with the social care sector in mind as a key stakeholder. An Adult Social Care PPE Task and Finish Group was established in April 2020, gathering insights from the sector and have carried out surveys to understand better customer needs. 4.3 The PPE Portal started as an emergency top-up but has expanded rapidly, increasing the number of providers registered and increasing order limits. Free PPE for COVID-19 uses is now provided to social care providers and will be available until the end of March 2022. Up to April 2021, 2 billion items have been delivered through the PPE portal and 94% of care homes and 85% of domiciliary homes have registered. 4.4 Work is underway to confirm the future approach for the management of PPE, including ensuring a strong supply of PPE for both health and care sectors. More information about the future approach will be available in due course and the department will write to the Committee with an update on this by the end of April 2021. 4.5 The department is developing a framework to determine how government might best respond to a shortage of PPE for health and social care settings in addition to wider sectors. This framework has the potential to be adapted and implemented for any future needs.