Somerset Covid-19 care home death rate report 'inconclusive'

The report looked at why the death rate from Covid was so high in care homes in the area

A study has been unable to explain why care home deaths in Bath and North East Somerset were among the highest in England during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The authority's rate was more than double the national average in 2021, despite a below-average proportion of deaths in the area.

Researchers at NIHR ARC West said their findings were "inconclusive".

Bath and North East Somerset Council ordered the study and said it would help with future contingency plans.

Alison Born, the council's cabinet member for adult services, said: "I welcome this report as a transparent and detailed analysis of how the pandemic impacted on and was managed in care homes in our area. I particularly welcome the inclusion of voices from care home staff.

"This research provides new data, learning and insight which builds on what we published last year. It offers reassurance that the initial analysis was right to suggest that the headline figures - once seen in context - do not cause us concerns."

The report said the rate of Covid-19 deaths overall in the Bath and North East Somerset area during the second pandemic wave - from September 2020 to February 2021 - was 96 per 100,000 population, which was in the lowest 30% of local authorities in England.

But the rate of Covid deaths in care homes in the area - 523 deaths per 100,000 population - was in the highest 10% of local authorities in England, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The number of people who died nationally from Covid-19 in the care sector was more than 40,000.

'Staffing shortages'

But there was little in the NIHR ARC West study to point to what had caused care homes in the area in particular to experience such a high rate of Covid-19 deaths.

The study's authors acknowledged this and said they had been unable to collect enough information.

They said they contacted all 77 care homes in Bath and North East Somerset to ask them to take part in their interviews, but had to reach out to care homes across the West of England after only a small amount responded.

Interviews from 14 staff working at five different care homes identified insufficient staffing as the biggest challenge for care homes, with staff having to expand their remits and face "burnout".

The report added it was "possible" that visitors and agency staff, who some interviews said were "reluctant to fully engage" with the measures in place at the care homes they came to, were linked to Covid-19 outbreaks.

The report stated: "We recognise that many of the points here do not address the death rates in B&NES specifically but we were unable to collect sufficient data for this purpose."

The findings also said the practices of the care homes were not at fault and "did not show any indication" they contributed to the death rate.

"The biggest challenge that was experienced during that time was the staffing shortages," the study said.

The death rate from Covid in the area's care homes was more than double the national average in 2021

In response to the report at a committee meeting, councillors voted to urge the authority to develop plans that will enable care homes to be supported with "emergency staff" in situations such as pandemics.

They also called for the authority to look at how care home layout and structure could support better isolation and infection control.

Councillors also said they wanted to recognise the "huge effort and commitment and sacrifice" of care home staff.