Updated
Janet Finch-Saunders AM, Shadow Minister for Social Care, has today (April 14) condemned what she called the “… “lack of clarity and transparency’ offered by the Welsh Government over the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation in residential care homes.
In a question submitted on March 30, Mrs Finch-Saunders – who is also the Welsh Conservative's Older People's Champion – asked:
"Will the Minister make a statement on how many residents have died as a result of coronavirus in care homes?"
In his reply, the Minister for Health and Social Services said:
"I do not currently have information on the number of care home residents who have contracted COVID-19 and have subsequently died or on the place of death.”
Her concern comes as a host of UK charities warn that older people risk being “airbrushed” out of Coronavirus figures in the UK.
Commenting on the situation, Mr Finch-Saunders said:
“Whilst I thank the Welsh Social Services Minister for his reply to my question, I am deeply concerned by the lack of clarity and transparency it offers during this period of great challenge to our social care sector.
“Instead of allowing for open and constructive dialogue on this matter of importance, the Welsh Government continues to omit social care statistics from official updates.
“This is flatly unacceptable.
“It is not beyond the scope of Wales' Minister for Social Services to have taken time to have collated valuable statistics from our seven health boards to ascertain to true impact of COVID-19 on those most at risk.
“As the Welsh Conservative's Older People’s champion, I urge the Welsh Social Services Minister to provide a regular update on deaths in the Welsh care system.
“The mark of a civilised society is how it cares for its oldest citizens.
“If we are to understand the impact of Coronavirus on our care homes in its entirety, we cannot allow official statistic updates to ignore those who are most vulnerable to this disease."
Update
Since this story was first published, the Health Minister reported that 75 out of Wales' 1,073 care homes have confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a further 217 have suspected cases, and added that 128 tests had been carried out in care homes in the past week.
