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Care Home Update
Suspected or confirmed outbreaks
As of 19 May 2020 GCC had been notified of 77 care home settings where there was one or more suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases. Table 1 shows the breakdown of notifications by district level, with the most notifications occurring in Cheltenham and Gloucester. There have been no new notifications of outbreaks in the preceding week.
Table 1: Notifications of Covid19 in care home settings, by district
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Total number of care homes with a suspected or confirmed outbreak
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Total number of care homes
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Proportion of care homes in a District that have a suspected or confirmed outbreak
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Cheltenham
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20
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40
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50.0%
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Cotswold
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9
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18
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50.0%
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Forest of Dean
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8
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42
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19.0%
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Gloucester
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20
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60
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33.3%
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Stroud
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9
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51
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17.6%
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Tewkesbury
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11
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19
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57.9%
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Gloucestershire
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77
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230
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33.5%
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NB Care homes vary in size and in the characteristics of their residents.
Outbreak data is also being reported publicly. The figures here are slightly lower than our local figures due to a time lag.
The number of cases (confirmed or suspected) has not been reported due to limitations in data accuracy which means comparison is not possible. This information is being used for operational purposes. As testing in care homes increases we will review whether adding this information will add additional strategic insight.
Covid-19 deaths
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) publish figures on deaths where Covid-19 was suspected in the notification from the care home, as well as all cause mortality (since 10 April 2020).
(n.b: It is probable that not all deaths due to Covid-19 will be notified as such, conversely Covid-19 may be mentioned but not have been a contributory factor in a death.)
Sadly between 10 April and 19 May there were 201 Covid-19 suspected deaths notified from care homes in Gloucestershire, with a total of 364 deaths from all causes notified. There has been a decline in care home deaths since the week ending 24 April 2020.
While CQC numbers are more comprehensive than local reporting, they are not currently reported by district council. Table 2 uses local and PHE notifications of deaths in care homes which are available by district, however these numbers are lower than CQC reported figures as not all deaths are reported by this route. As of 19 May 2020 there were 65 deaths of care home residents who were suspected to have Covid-19 notified to GCC locally, however we do not have information at this time as to whether Covid-19 was a contributory factor in each of these deaths.
There is variation in the number of care homes, number of residents and complexity of care (acuity) for residents between districts. The table below shows the rate of deaths per care home bed per district. However this does not take into account acuity of residents or differences in Covid-19 outbreaks between areas. As noted above this does not include information on all deaths or any differences in reporting Covid-19/non Covid-19 between areas. In addition it is worth noting that the number involved are small.
Table 2: Deaths of care home residents who were suspected to have Covid19, by district
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Deaths of care home
residents who were
suspected to have Covid-19
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Care home beds
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Rate per 1000
care home beds
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Cheltenham
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30
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1,395
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21.5
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Cotswold
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<5
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899
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n/a
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Forest of Dean
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<5
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714
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n/a
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Gloucester
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12
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1,200
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10.0
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Stroud
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7
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1,530
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6.1
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Tewkesbury
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12
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590
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20.3
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Gloucestershire
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65
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5,951
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10.9
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Update on Wedding and Civil Partnership Ceremonies
The Prime Minister announced the Governments phased lifting of restrictions in May and made reference to the fact that the “Government was also examining how to enable people to gather in slightly larger groups to better facilitate small weddings” no earlier than Monday 1 June 2020. We have had no indication when after the 1st June ceremonies will be allowed to go ahead.
The content and timing of the second stage of adjustments will depend on the most up-to-date assessment of the risk posed by the virus, therefore we cannot confirm a date from which Wedding and Civil Partnership ceremonies will be able to commence. The only guidelines that have been published are contained within the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy and we have not received any further clarification or information about what will constitute a “small wedding” or the numbers that may be able to gather.
Before any ceremonies can go ahead we need to prepare our Registration Office venues to ensure current social distancing measures can be adhered to and receive updated risk assessments from all our approved premises. Until we receive clear information about numbers of people who are able to gather for a “small wedding” we cannot adequately ensure social distancing is achievable in any ceremony venue. For our Registration Office venues we will also need to give consideration to what other Registration functions will need to be conducted and at the present time do not have any detail about the timings for these either.
We recognise the stress that is being felt by couples who are not clear whether their ceremony can go ahead or how far in the future to move it to. Unfortunately until we get clear guidelines from the Government in respect of Wedding and Civil Partnership ceremonies we simply cannot confirm that any particular booking will be able to go ahead.
We know that Notices of Marriage may also be due to run out before we are able to provide clear confirmation that the ceremony can go ahead. The fees to give Notice are statutory fees but because couples have been affected by the Government restrictions, Gloucestershire Registration Services (GRS) have taken the decision not to pass on the charge for new Notices to those who have to give fresh Notices within Gloucestershire. Other local authorities may take a different approach.
We are working closely with all couples to try and accommodate their wishes, however, this is not always possible due to the capacity we have to undertake wedding and civil partnership ceremonies on any given date and any limits which may have to be placed on venues.
To date GRS has dealt with over 900 ceremony bookings for March, April and May and continue to work through those due to take place in June. Couples directly affected by Government restrictions are able to amend their wedding date at no additional cost to them. If couples choose to cancel because their ceremony could not go ahead they will receive a refund.
*The above data reflects nationally published data available here.
**This section contains information on deaths of patients who have died in hospitals in Gloucestershire and had tested positive for Covid-19 at time of death or where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. All deaths are recorded against the date of death rather than the date the deaths were announced. It is based on national NHS data published here.
The data in this briefing is updated at 9am each day based on the figures released at 2pm the previous day.
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