Brent Council sets an example by creating a ‘protective ring’ around care homes

LONDON’S Brent Council sent elderly patients discharged from hospital to a dedicated coronavirus care home to quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they had tested positive for COVID-19.

The council spent £1.5 million on PPE in February and ensured these patients were quarantined to stop them potentially infecting other residents, The Daily Telegraph reported last week.

As a result of this ‘protective ring’, Brent has one of the lowest care home deaths in London. The toll across the UK stands over 10,000.

Many praised the novel initiative and said this could be an effective mechanism to prevent the second spike in infections.

Labour MP for Brent North Barry Gardiner hailed the council’s ‘swift and decisive’ action which saved many lives.

Steve Reed MP, shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, said ministers should take lessons from Brent Council going forwards.

In his opinion, the government must learn ‘quickly’ from local authorities to avoid a second-wave of Covid-19 infections which could lead to more deaths and another lockdown.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it is providing an extra £600 million for infection control measures in care homes on top of the £3.2 billion already given to local authorities to deal with Covid-19. This includes £1.3 billion of additional funding to enhance the NHS discharge process.