Frequently Asked Questions relating to Hospital & Care Home Acquired Covid
Q. Is there a clear definition of hospital acquired Covid?
A. Possibly not - when you say it was clearly acquired in Hospital the question is whether the hospital agrees. NHS England defines probable healthcare-associated Covid-19 inpatient infection as patients diagnosed more than 7 days after admission.
Q. Will the Statutory Covid Inquiry hear our evidence on how we have found the complaints process of NHS Foundation Trust?
A. The Inquiry will be looking at general issues and will only examine specific cases insofar as they are necessary to shed light on general issues. It is unlikely that the Inquiry will spend much, if any, time examining the complaints processes of individual hospitals, but if there is evidence of a systemic failure of the complaints system that might be examined.
Q. What about no visiting restrictions when people were dying? Can anything be done about this in the Inquiry?
A. Visiting restrictions/policies will be investigated in the Inquiry, yes. This is covered under Para 1 (b) (v) of the draft Terms of Reference.
Q: Are the Covid wards at the hospitals being challenged about their conduct of care with patients and the way they communicated with families?
A: The response of the health sector will play a major role in the Inquiry, more specifically the Terms of Reference mention the management of the pandemic in hospitals in Section 1(b(iv)). You can see the Terms of Reference here: https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Covid-19-Inquiry-Terms-of-Reference-Final.pdf
Q: Will the Inquiry look specifically at discharging patients from hospital, without testing for Covid, into their own homes not just into care homes?
A: Yes; the Terms of Reference say the Inquiry will look into the discharge of patients under paragraph (1)(b)(iv).
Q: If there will be examples from individual Trusts, will the examples be from Trusts that are particularly bad?
A: I would imagine so, but the Inquiry should also look at good practice in order to learn for the future.
Q: Will there be any Inquiry related to the NHS emergency services during the Covid pandemic?
A: Yes, this is covered in the Terms of Reference in section 1(b)(ii). You can see the Terms of Reference here: https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Covid-19-Inquiry-Terms-of-Reference-Final.pdf
Q. Will the decision on blanket DNR orders and not qualifying for treatment be scrutinised?
A. The Inquiry will be asked to look into the use of DNR, invoking the end-of-life process and withdrawal of treatment. There seem to have been systemic issues and concerns in this area.
Q. How long do we have to bring a complaint to the hospital and if not happy then take it to the Ombudsman?
A. Normally a complaint needs to be made to the NHS within 12 months, but the NHS can grant an extension for good reason.
Q. Would audio recording with hospitals be used as evidence?
A. Audio recordings can be admissible as evidence if relevant.
Q. Is the CQC investigating into hospitals to see if they covered up positive Covid tests when they were discharged into care homes?
A. Not to our knowledge but they could be conducting investigations without making this public.
Q. Has there been any consideration of the competence, training and supervision of care staff with regard to PPE and working in a care home environment where COVID had been identified?
A. This is something which should be investigated by the Inquiry in due course.
Q. Will the Inquiry look at how full time carers were left on their own? Will it also look at the fact that paid carers brought the virus into peoples homes?
A. The proposed Terms of Reference put all care facilities and 'at home' care within scope. Lack of support for paid and unpaid carers and failures of infection control will be key issues.