UK care homes regulator refuse to disclose individual homes’ death tolls
The English regulator, the Care Quality Commission, and its Scottish equivalent, the Care Inspectorate, refused to disclose, in response to FOI requests, the COVID-19 death tolls in individual care homes in part to protect providers’ commercial interest and avoid undermining the UK’s care system, which relies on private operators. The regulators do share data on an individual home basis with their governments. Research has found that coronavirus outbreaks were up to 20 times more likely in larger care homes, and a second study found an association between COVID-19 infection rates and occupancy and staff-to-resident ratios. During the spring pandemic, UK care homes recorded 17.721 coronavirus deaths.
Writer: Robert Booth
Publication: Guardian