Coronavirus: Covid-19 care home testing delays 'unacceptable'

The government said it had a "comprehensive action plan" to help care providers

There are "unacceptable delays" in securing coronavirus test results for care homes, a council's chief executive has warned.

In a letter to the government, Cheshire West and Chester Council's Andrew Lewis called the testing system "confusing".

He added that it was proving "difficult" to find accommodation for care home residents with the virus.

The government said it had a "comprehensive action plan" to help care providers.

"The actions we have taken have resulted in nearly 60% of care homes having no outbreak of Covid-19 at all," a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said.

Mr Lewis wrote to DHSC Minister Helen Whately after she asked councils to confirm the level of support they were providing to local care homes.

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He said he was "proud of the support provided by social care staff across our borough", but added that care home and homecare staff had faced "unprecedented and significant challenges", meaning "extra support" was needed from the government.

"Care homes are finding the routes to test residents and staff confusing, and are experiencing unacceptable delays in securing test results," he said, adding that he believed the solution lay in "more local autonomy" allowing councils to prioritise tests.

He also said finding alternative housing for those who test positive for Covid-19 was "proving difficult" and "creating a barrier to the local authorities' duty to provide this accommodation".

He added that the "chronic and continuing underfunding of the adult social care system" should be a "learning point from the crisis".

A DHSC spokeswoman said the introduction of an online portal had made it "easy for all care homes to order test kits" and £3.2bn had been made available to councils, along with a further £600m Infection Control Fund aimed at reducing the rate of transmission in and between homes.

West Cheshire has seen 159 care home residents die with Covid-19 symptoms up to 29 May.

A further 418 people have reported symptoms of the virus over the same period.