Covid-19: why we need a national health and social care service

Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes expose serious inadequacies in social care services across the UK. Data from across the world show that deaths from covid-19 mainly occur among older people, particularly those over 80. 1 By 12 April 10 612 deaths had been reported in the UK 2 -40% of deaths have occurred in those aged 60-79 and 52% in those 80 years or over. 3 Close to 1.5 million vulnerable people are currently self-isolating indoors for 12 weeks. 4 These include many older people and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Many are essentially in solitary confinement. Many residents in care homes are trapped in their rooms, with no visits from relatives and minimal interactions with staff. The decision to exclude relatives means that care homes have become closed institutions, increasing the risk that people are inappropriately denied hospital admission as well as the risk of neglect and abuse. 5 6 Of equal concern are plans to transfer patients recovering from covid-19 from the NHS into empty nursing home beds.