Hospitals do not know if discharged Covid-19 patients lived or died
Health bosses for Sandwell and Birmingham have admitted they don’t know if Covid -19 positive patients transferred to care homes lived or died.
The admission came after Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospitals Trust (SWBH) released figures for discharges from its Sandwell General and City Road hospitals.
Between March 1 and April 15, SWBH discharged 87 people as wards were cleared in readiness for the influx of coronavirus cases. Figures show 61 were placed in care homes without being tested.
Of 26 tested patients, 13 were found to be negative while one result was inconclusive.
The trust also transferred 12 people who had tested positive into residential care.
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In comparison, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust said it had discharged nine patients into care homes but refused to say if any had been tested.
A spokesman for SWBH stressed only patients who were medically fit were placed in residential care. But when asked if any had subsequently died, they said the trust didn’t have access to such information.
In an official statement, David Carruthers, acting chief executive of SWBH, said: “The trust makes the safety of our patients and staff a priority, and this has not changed during the pandemic. The trust has only discharged home, including to care homes, people we consider clinically fit to be discharged.
National guidance
“Where patients were Covid positive and fit for discharge we created a pathway for them which ensured the patients were safely cared for.
“Every patient was considered individually and if the care home was unable to manage the patient safely within their care home and continue to protect their other residents, they remained with us.
“Until national guidance was issued in April, and until testing availability was improved regionally in mid-April, we were testing all suspected Covid patients on admission, and testing those going to care homes prior to their discharge.
“Patients with no Covid symptoms who were in non-Covid wards were not tested prior to discharge.
“We now test every patient on admission and during their hospital stay for Covid.”
The revelation that hospitals are not routinely informed of deaths comes amid mounting criticism of how data is shared.
Lisa McNally, director of public health for Sandwell Council, has said local authorities have been denied access to test and trace information which could help prevent outbreaks. She added councils are told when people die but local hospitals will not necessarily be informed.
Commenting on the discharges to care homes, she said: “Care homes are vulnerable. If you have someone in a care homes who is Covid-19 positive, whether they have arrived from the community or have discharged, you are obviously taking a risk.
“Infection can sometimes be difficult to control but, most importantly, people in care homes are extremely vulnerable, some of the most vulnerable people in our society to the effects of Covid-19.”
