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Apr 2020

Coronavirus

Daughter of woman in Harrogate care home says she had little information on a suspected coronavirus outbreak

Published: 15 Apr 2020, 16:39 BST

Updated: 15 Apr 2020, 16:42 BST

by Tamsin O'Brien

Hazel Ludwighodges, who's mother Irene is a resident of Berwick Grange in Harrogate, says her care has been good but she's wanted more information about the suspected covid-19 deaths at the home

86 year old Irene Hibberd has been a resident of Berwick Grange since December last year.

MHA, the methodist charity which runs Berwick Grange, said the home has had "a number of suspected coronavirus deaths" but would not give an exact number as residents had not been tested before they died. The home is a specialist dementia unit.

Irene's daughter, Hazel Ludwighodges, who is herself a carer and had previously worked at Berwick Grange, said she became aware of the situation at the home a couple of weeks ago but was not officially told by the charity

" When I tried to get information I was told it wasn't available to me and that if my mother was involved I would be told. I am not very happy about that to be honest, I know that the situation is very difficult at the moment but it would have been nice to have been told that there were suspected cases. Not to have been told distressed me a little."

She was told that she would receive emails from MHA but hasn't yet been sent any.

In a statement on the 10th April MHA said:

A small number of our homes have already been badly affected, although the extent to which these losses can be attributed to Covid-19 is debatable as our residents are not being tested. Without that testing, we may never know the true extent of outbreaks in our homes.

Our residents are a second family and this will take its toll on our teams as they sadly lose people they have cared for, in some cases for a number of years. We will make sure we care for our colleagues as well as our residents throughout all of this and would urge you to support us and our colleagues at this difficult time

Mrs Ludwighodges says she feels the level of care in Berwick Grange is good and does not blame the government for the lack of testing:

"I think the government is doing everything it can, it is doing a good job. I worry about my mother but you could say we should do some more but there's only so much we can do. These things happen. Carers have always been undervalued. Out of this crisis - it would be nice if carers are appreciated more. "