A recent blog written by Dr Jennie Burton, Professor Claire Goodman and Dr Terry Quinn published on the LTC responses to COVID-19 website discusses the difficulties faced in developing a coordinated response to Covid-19 for UK care homes:

“If you don’t understand a population how can you possibly succeed in anticipating and responding to their needs? Sadly, this feels to be at the root of the national failures to adequately support UK care homes in response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a gap between what care home providers, managers and staff know are the needs of their residents and politicians, policymakers and NHS staff, recognise is needed to support the sector. The issue is compounded by fragmentation of information, cross-sectoral data-sharing restrictions and a lack of sustained national investment, particularly with respect to digital technologies.”

Claire Goodman, Professor of Health Care Research, University of Hertfordshire, is leading an NIHR-funded four-year study aiming to enhance how researchers and health and social care services can use existing data to improve the care and quality of life for care home residents, families and staff. The £2.2million DACHA study (Developing research resources and minimum data set for care homes’ adoption and use) is led by the University of Hertfordshire.

Researchers involved in the DACHA study (@DACHA_ study) discuss “how the situation may have been different and how they are hoping to facilitate positive change.” Reflecting upon the current situation and how this may have been different they suggest:

“A UK care home minimum dataset will never replace stories from the frontline about the compassionate person-centred care which takes place up and down the country, every day. It would, however, have supplied the numbers to have supported a more intelligence-led, co-ordinated response and could have been a tool for generating evidence and developing best practice in this new world.”

For access to the full blog please click here