Haringey care homes in the time of COVID-19

Key findings

• COVID-19. Around one third of Haringey care homes had had COVID-19 cases amongst their residents and/or staff.
• Staffing. Over the last eight weeks some care homes had experienced significant staffing difficulties because of staff absence, but currently this is no longer the case. Some care homes felt staff absence would be an ongoing problem.
• Testing. Care homes did have access to COVID-19 tests for staff, but some care homes could not access COVID-19 tests for their residents.
• PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). All care homes had been able to provide their staff with sufficient PPE, but some were worried about future supplies of PPE, and the two items most commonly mentioned as being in very short supply were face masks and hand sanitisers.
• GPs. GP consultations with care home residents were taking place over the phone or by videocall, and most care homes had had a positive experience with this.
• Hospital interface. 45% of care homes said residents coming/returning to their care homes from hospital were still not being tested for COVID-19 before being discharged into their care. Care homes felt hospitals needed to do more work on ensuring good discharge planning and support was in place prior to residents being discharged from hospital.
• Financial sustainability and viability. 40% of care homes managers were not sure whether their care home would be financially viable beyond the next 12 months. The main threats were identified as vacancies and low occupancy levels; rising costs of PPE and other equipment; rising staff costs; staff leaving due to high risk and low financial reward; and service user fees no longer covering rising costs.