A breakdown of covid deaths for each care home in North Yorkshire has revealed five of the 10 worst affected are in the Harrogate district.
The new figures released by the Care Quality Commission, which regulates care homes, revealed 18 care homes in the county reported a total of 515 resident deaths during the course of the pandemic.
Health officials said the results “bring into stark relief the ravages” of the virus.
Five of the 10 care homes worst affected during the pandemic were in the Harrogate district. These included three in Harrogate, one in Knaresborough and another in Scotton.
Top 10 worst affected care homes in North Yorkshire:
- Craven Nursing Home Limited, Skipton – 24 deaths
- Southlands Care Home, Harrogate – 22 deaths
- Leeming Bar Grange Care Home, Leeming Bar – 22 deaths
- Belmont House Care Home, Harrogate – 22 deaths
- Beechwood Care Home, Northallerton – 21 deaths
- Bilton Hall Nursing Home, Knaresborough – 17 deaths
- Maple Lodge Care Home, Scotton – 17 deaths
- The Terrace, Richmond – 16 deaths
- Scorton Care Village, Scorton – 16 deaths
- Vida Grange, Harrogate – 15 deaths
Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:
“Every death from covid during the course of this terrible pandemic has been one death too many.”
“The death toll in care homes over the last 20 months, published by the Care Quality Commission, brings into stark relief the ravages of covid and the price we have paid as a society and that we continue to pay.
“All the families and friends who have lost loved ones to the virus are very much in our hearts and in our thoughts.”
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Care home managers must inform the CQC when one of their residents dies. From April last year they also had to say whether covid was believed to be a factor in the person’s death.
The newly published data is based on these notifications.
No link between care standards and deaths
The CQC said in its report that it has not found a link between standards of care and the number of deaths – something local health officials have also stressed.
The social care watchdog said contributing factors included the levels of covid in the local community and the age and health of the residents.
The struggle for PPE and hospital patients being discharged into homes without getting tested were also thought to contributors to the virus spreading quickly.
And although it is now widely available, testing was said to be a “critical” issue at the start of the outbreak with some test kits taking up to 20 days to be delivered to North Yorkshire care homes.
Mr Webb praised social care staff for their “heroic efforts” during the pandemic:
“Staff have worked heroically to contain the virus as best they could. We are grateful to staff in care homes as well as our own authorities who showed courage and bravery in doing all they could to protect our residents, working tirelessly during such a difficult period.
“We will never know, if we had not taken swift action supported by colleagues in the care sector in those early days, how many more would have died.”