In January of 2021, a tragic story unfolded in Ontario in Roberta Place long term care home which had 137 beds and 130 residents. A covid outbreak was declared when an asymptomatic member of staff tested positive on 8th January 2021. After six weeks, at least 129 residents, 106 staff members had fallen ill and 70 residents died.
Care homes
Joint open letter to MPs who voted for vaccine mandates
HART have joined with The Thinking Coalition and UK Medical Freedom Alliance in a letter to all those MPs who voted for mandatory vaccination for Social Care Workers in summer of 2021. Much was written at the time of the huge ethical issues, quite apart from the likely loss of many skilled and dedicated staff. Labour voted against the government at the time, in response to calls from unions whose members were likely to be impacted.
Continued restrictions to visiting in care settings
It is 8 months since the government lifted all remaining restrictions to visiting in care settings. But despite these changes, many families are still restricted from visiting family members in care, and support groups continue to report limits to visiting.
Living with Covid: What does this mean for those in adult social care?
In February 2022, the UK Government announced plans for ‘Living with Covid-19’ and the removal of remaining legal restrictions. Looking back to March 2021, when HART produced its booklet Covid-19: An overview of the evidence, it is clear that the adult social care sector still remains disproportionately affected by draconian restrictions, which prevent many residents from meaningful, regular contact with family and friends.
The cruelty of testing whack-a-mole
throughout the pandemic, there was always the mantra of ‘protecting the vulnerable’. Given this, it has been extremely disturbing to witness the horrific treatment of care home residents, who are arguably the most vulnerable members of society.
Care home isolation and neglect: an urgent crisis
Boris Johnson’s announcement on 21st February confirmed that the remaining Coronavirus restrictions (in England) will be lifted over the next few weeks. However, families with loved ones in care homes protest that many relatives are still experiencing draconian restrictions preventing contact with residents.
Covid policies in care homes doing more harm than good
HART has published a number of articles on the scandal of poor prevention against infection in care homes and the serious mental health harms of isolating the elderly to the extent that normal family visits are verboten. Add in worsening staffing levels following heinous vaccine mandates for care workers and you have all the ingredients for a perfect storm.
FULL BRIEFING: Covid policies in care homes doing more harm than good
The article below was sent to us by a whistleblower community nurse — it is a stark reminder of just one practical aspect of care of the elderly which seems to have been ignored, namely harm and death caused by the restrictions rather than by Covid.
Government review of care home winter plan based on terrible error or deliberate lie about successes last year
Government has published a winter plan for care homes with plans for interventions for this winter in care homes including ipads as a proposal to replace human contact. The entire document is based on the premise that interventions in winter prevented deaths in care homes based on claims made in a review of last year’s winter plan. No data supports this notion. The Government report is either based on a terrible error or a deliberate lie.
FULL ARTICLE: Claims of success in protecting the vulnerable in care homes are based on deceptive data
Government has published a winter plan for care homes with plans for interventions for this winter in care homes including ipads as a proposal to replace human contact. The entire document is based on the premise that interventions in winter prevented deaths in care homes based on claims made in a review of last year’s winter plan. No data supports this notion.
Protecting them to death
22 June 2021 – It is not unusual to hear that relatives have not seen residents for 14 months. This has been especially barbaric for dementia patients and their families.
High levels of Midazolam prescriptions
10 June 2021 – Further investigation into how much of the prescribed Midazolam was actually given to patients, and into the accusations of the whistleblowers that the drug was misused, is now urgently warranted, if only to allay fears of misuse.
Care homes – we must do better for the most vulnerable in society
By Dr Ali Haggett Community mental health practitioner – older people Blanket visiting bans are contrary to the rights of residents and their families under the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 8). Blanket bans on care home visiting: legislation required as a priority The Joint Committee on Human Rights wrote a letter on 3 […]
