A furious care home owner says the authorities need to learn the lessons from Spain to avoid the mass deaths of residents caused by the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
According to Glyn Williams, who runs the Gwyddfor Residential Home\u00a0 in Bodedern on Anglesey,\u00a0 he would rather close if he can\u2019t protect his residents and staff because of underfunding and the absence of enough personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n
Mr Williams, a council member of Care Forum Wales which represents more than 450 independent providers, has outlined his concerns in a hard-hitting letter to Anglesey AM Rhun ap Iorwerth, saying care homes desperately need extra support to save lives.<\/p>\n
The issue was brought closer to home last week with reports that two residents at the\u00a0 Plas Pengwaith care home in Llanberis, which is run by Gwynedd Council, had died after contracting the Covid-19 virus.<\/p>\n
One major issue was that the council pays social care providers\u00a0 23 per cent\u00a0 less than the fees they set for their own care homes.<\/p>\n
It was \u201cludicrous\u201d that the council had calculated their own standard fee weekly fee to be \u00a3760 for council-run homes compared to the \u00a3585.72\u00a0\u00a0 Gwyddfor receives per resident every week.<\/p>\n
It was, he said, unfair during normal times but was making life \u201cutterly impossible\u201d during the current national emergency.<\/p>\n
The other major problem was that the authorities were not supplying enough personal protective equipment (PPE).<\/p>\n
Mr Williams\u00a0 has bought as much gear as he can but estimates it\u2019s only enough for three days if they need to use it.<\/p>\n
In his past life Mr Williams was trained by the RAF in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare and he has used his expertise to make Gwyddfor as safe as possible under the circumstances.<\/p>\n
The home has reorganised shifts and taken on extra staff who are being trained to<\/p>\n
to help cover staff in isolation or long term shielding.<\/p>\n
In addition, they have bought two military mess tents and used them to convert their atrium into a three-stage decontamination facility.<\/p>\n
Mr Williams said: \u201cWe are converting our training room into a dormitory ready for when our teams need to move in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am committed to paying them their normal hourly rate.\u00a0 We should pay these wonderful people for every hour that they are on the premises and not just a sleep in rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur staffing costs at these enhanced levels have gone astronomical, as such I have approached Anglesey Council to see if they could subsidise our residents up to our private clients standard fee instead of the totally inadequate authority funding levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnglesey Council have not been forthcoming in response to my request.\u00a0 It is ludicrous that the council have calculated their own standard fee to be \u00a3760 in Council owned homes, yet only fund clients at Gwyddfor \u00a3585.72\u00a0\u00a0 per resident per week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe argument used in prior years was\u00a0 that they have a higher staffing costs just does not stack up to me now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am committed to paying my staff their normal hourly rate, plus an enhanced 10 per cent bonus rate linked to attendance and training.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just do not think the council have taken onboard how serious this outbreak is going to be, and that we are now on our own.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou only have to look at Spain and the elderly residents found abandoned and dead in their beds. We have a very short space of time within which to protect the most vulnerable on Anglesey and VALUE our staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can understand why this happened in Spain, inadequate PPE, undervalued and under trained staff. Staff numbers decreasing. Can you imagine how scared staff must have been trying to look after and isolate wandering dementia residents\u2019 who don\u2019t have a clue what’s happening to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure they would have got to the stage of locking them in their rooms with staff too frightened to go in. All the signs are there for us to learn from, and we’re not learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cCare Forum Wales have been saying that a perfect storm is brewing, it’s just turned into a Category 5 hurricane.<\/p>\n
\u201cI now have to think about the future viability of my business, and whether or not I can provide a safe and high standard of care. Quite frankly, I would rather close than continue at the current underfunded levels<\/p>\n
\u201cI served in the Royal Air Force for 25 years before moving into the care sector.\u00a0 I always had the resources to keep people safe and get the job done.\u00a0 I am respectfully asking that you now do your job and give me the resources to SAVE LIVES.<\/p>\n
In the letter to Mr ap Iorwerth, he implored: \u201cPlease do not give me a standard response about how limited funds are at the difficult time.\u00a0 That will simply not cut it with me, OR my 28 residents and 45 employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a sentiment echoed by Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, who has revealed that care home owners feel abandoned and believes that care home residents and staff are being treated like \u201ccollateral damage\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft added: \u201cIn a civilised society, we can\u2019t allow care homes to become collateral damage otherwise more people are going to die than would otherwise be the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have waited too long, lost too much time and we need to have an urgent call to action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis crisis will challenge us all and we must work as one in the deepest of partnerships to ensure that as many people as possible are saved.\u201d<\/p>\n