Care home deaths 'under-reported due to lack of testing' in West Midlands
A lack of testing in care homes means that Covid-19 deaths could be massively under-reported across the West Midlands, it emerged today.
Care providers have told the Express & Star that doctors have not registered deaths as coronavirus related due to testing not being available on site.
It came as ministers announced new measures to ensure testing for all care home residents and staff with symptoms of the illness.
Parklands Court Care Home in Bloxwich says that since mid-March two residents have died after testing positive for Covid-19.
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But for a number of other residents – understood to be more than 20 – who have died over the same period, doctors have been unable to say with "complete certainty" whether the virus was a factor.
A spokesman for Parklands Court said: "We are saddened to confirm that two residents from Parklands Court Care Home have passed away at the home after testing positive for Covid-19.
"A number of other residents have also sadly passed away since the middle of March, but as a care home supporting a large number of people on end of life pathways with multiple serious underlying health conditions, medical practitioners have told us that given the lack of available testing, they are unable to say with complete certainty in which of these deaths Covid-19 may have been a contributory factor.
"Regardless of the cause, each death is a huge personal loss and we send our deepest condolences to the families."
Bosses have also revealed they have brought in extra nurses, carers and volunteers at the Park Road site, which is run by Advinia Healthcare and has 103 residents.
The home has welcomed the Government's pledge to ramp up testing.
"Having the capacity to test staff would mean we can bring more colleagues back from self-isolation so they can care for our residents in the home," the spokesman added.
Care homes have been calling for more testing for weeks, with charities saying the virus is "running wild" amid outbreaks at more than 2,000 homes across the country.
Two of the country's biggest providers, HC-One and MHA – both of which have homes in the West Midlands – have reported more than 500 coronavirus deaths.
The Alzheimer's Society estimates there have been at least 2,500 deaths in care homes based on the latest ONS figures.
Official NHS figures for Covid-19 deaths only include hospital deaths.
