Castle Gresley Care Home To Be Used To Isolate Coronavirus Positive Patients Released From Hospital

An isolation area has been set up at a South Derbyshire care home for Covid-19 positive patients being discharged from hospital.

Castle Court care home, in Arthur Street, Castle Gresley, is one of two facilities run by Derbyshire County Council at which isolation wings are being put in place.

The second is Whitestones in Chapel-en-le-Frith. The facility at Castle Court is already in operation.

Government policy released in March, due to have been reviewed in April, told NHS hospitals to transfer any patients who no longer required hospital level treatment to care homes.

This is to be the case even if the patient in question was still testing positive for Covid-19 or who had a test pending.

GPs, staff and relatives of residents at Whitestones have already raised concern about the isolation unit being put in place  fearing it could spark a localised Covid-19 outbreak.

The county council says the patients being proposed for transfer would not be "medically unwell".

This comes as the Covid-19 outbreak in care homes continues to cause national uproar, with thousands of residents dying so far after contracting the virus.

Half of the deaths in all Derby and Derbyshire care homes – both private facilities and council-run homes – are being caused by Covid-19, with more than 100 in the past few weeks alone.

A total of 10 of these have been in the 23 care homes the county council runs, while there have been 52 confirmed cases in its facilities.

Testing for care home staff and residents is still not in place.

A spokesperson for the council said: "The coronavirus pandemic is affecting every aspect of our lives and the county council is working very hard to support Derbyshire residents and the wider healthcare system during these unprecedented times.

"As part of our response, we have identified care homes where the design means we can set up separate isolation wings where people can be supported to recover and recuperate.

"Whitestones in the High Peak and Castle Court in South Derbyshire have the same layout and lend themselves to this approach. Because they have separate wings with a separate entrance, a wing can be isolated from the rest of the building which minimises the risk of any spread of the virus.

"This is already being used successfully at Castle Court and there are plans to operate in the same way at Whitestones with two separate care teams supporting residents in the separate areas of the home. Residents cannot access other parts of the care home.

"How we support local people during the pandemic is a work in progress and we are liaising with our colleagues in the NHS to find out the likely demand for places which will inform our future decisions.

"The safety and well-being of our residents and our staff is our highest priority and we are considering a number of options to ensure Derbyshire residents get the support they need.

"Setting up isolation wings is only one element of our approach to infection control which is designed to minimise the risk to residents and the people who work for us.

"We've increased our cleaning routines in all our care homes in line with guidance and we've put infection control measures in place, as advised by Public Health England. Our staff are equipped with full Personal Protection Equipment, trained in its use and are following government guidelines.

"We continue to work hard to support the healthcare system during this unprecedented pandemic while being mindful of our ongoing duty of care to our care home residents, their families, and to our staff.

"As of May 6, across our 23 council-run residential homes, sadly ten people who tested positive for coronavirus have died and there were 52 confirmed cases in our residential homes.

"Testing for all care home residents and staff is currently being rolled out across the country and we're supporting our staff to be tested in line with the Government's offer."