WOKINGHAM Borough Council decided to go AGAINST government guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic, in the name of protecting the borough's care homes.

The decision to refuse discharged patients from hospitals back into care homes, unless it was certain they did not have coronavirus, was made last month, despite government guidelines stating the contrary.

The council also has been working with various other specialists, creating a 'task force', in order to ensure care homes were prepared to cope with patients who have the virus.

Councillor Charles Margetts, executive member for health wellbeing and adult services, said: "As with care homes across the country, those in the Wokingham Borough have been coping with a very difficult situation during this crisis.

"People have died of Covid-19 in our homes and our thoughts are with them, their loved ones and the staff who are care for them.

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"As we became concerned that the situation in care homes was worsening, we lobbied our MPs and the Local Resilience Forum for increased testing of those being discharged and for those in homes and for improved supplies of PPE.

"We increased our support to local care homes, including providing emergency supplies of PPE and forming a task force focussed on going into homes to support with specific issues like detailed infection control advice.

The 'task force' has now worked with 14 care homes in the borough so they can start to take hospital discharges again.

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"Despite this lobbying and support, government guidelines continued to allow the potential discharge of patients with coronavirus into our care homes, so we took the decision to stop hospital discharge into our care homes unless the patient has tested negative and been without symptoms, or our task force had made sure the care home could cope with positive cases.

"This task force has now visited 14 care homes and we are now at the place where discharges from hospital can take place more safely into some homes.

"I would like to personally thank all care home staff for the immense effort they are putting in to keep people supported in the most difficult of situations."

The council has also improved funding deals for care homes they contract with, given opportunity for care homes to apply for additional temporary funding, supplying 231,000 PPE equipment to care homes, testing more than 250 staff, offering regular advice and guidance, establishing an infection control hotline as well as other means of support.