Coronavirus: 51 deaths in St Helens care homes linked to outbreak

The government, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and local authorities are all currently producing statistics on coronavirus deaths in care homes.

St Helens Council has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that as of May 1, it has been notified of 117 deaths in the borough’s care homes since the start of the outbreak.

Of that total, 51 were suspected of being linked to COVID-19, rising from 33 suspected coronavirus-related deaths in the week leading up to April 24.

In addition, 77 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in St Helens care homes, rising from 46 the previous week.

The statistics paint a bleak picture and backs up comments from the CQC that the impact COVID-19 is having on social care is a “devastating one”.

Figures published by the ONS on Tuesday show the UK now has the highest death toll in Europe, with 32,375 deaths now registered.

According to the ONS data, 5,890 coronavirus-related care home deaths were registered up to April 24 in England and Wales, up from just over 3,000 the week before.

Deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes notified to the Care Quality Commission, England

The ONS’ weekly reporting on deaths now includes information provided to the CQC by care homes via death notifications.

The watchdog says this is to ensure a “more complete and timely picture of the impact COVID-19 is having on social care”.

The latest CQC data was published by the ONS today (Tuesday) and shows that between April 10 and May 1, the CQC was notified of 90 deaths in care homes in St Helens, up from 51 deaths the week prior.

Out of those 91 deaths, COVID-19 was confirmed or suspected to be a factor in 40 of them – a 135 per cent rise from the 17 deaths reported between April 10 and April 24.

On Monday, April 27, the CQC was notified of 10 confirmed or suspected coronavirus-related deaths and was notified of five deaths on April 28.

One death was reported to the CQC on April 29 and another on April 30, while five deaths where COVID-19 was confirmed or suspected to be a factor were reported on May 1.

Notifications about deaths are typically sent to the CQC within two-three days of death, with low levels of reporting at the weekend and high levels on the first working day of the week.

Death registrations and occurrences by local authority and health board: week ending 24 April 2020

Separate figures published by the ONS show the total number of deaths in England and Wales across all settings, broken down by local authority area.

Since the pandemic, these statistics have featured a breakdown of when a death was ‘involving’ COVID-19.

This mean a death has occurred where COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

According to the ONS figures, which show deaths that occurred up to April 24 but were registered up to May 2, there were 105 deaths in St Helens involving COVID-19.

Broken down, 68 of those deaths occurred in hospitals, 33 in care homes and four at home.

We also know that St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Whiston, St Helens and Newton hospitals, has registered 161 deaths where the patient had tested positive for coronavirus. 

Whiston Hospital

The CQC says that, in addition to deaths which are directly attributable to COVID-19, there has been a significant rise in non-COVID-19 deaths.

The watchdog said it will be exploring the factors that may be driving this with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and NHS England to ensure “timely action” is taken to safeguard people.

This work will also inform the ONS’ longer-term research project on non-COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic.

Kate Terroni, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care, said: “Every death in today’s figures represents an individual tragedy for those who have lost a loved one – and for those who cared for them.

“We will continue to support care home managers as they do everything they can to keep people safe, but it is clear that more support is needed, from every part of the system, as social care staff go to extraordinary lengths to protect those in their care.”