University of Lancaster

Academic Institute

2001284

Deaths in care homes from all causes more than doubled at the April peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective is to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on health service provision and outcomes and provide evidence required to inform the future effective, safe management of care home residents. This novel research is possible because of our unique dataset that links digital information on care home residents with their health service record. We will analyse linked care home, community, Emergency Department and hospital admissions data from the North East (n=68 homes, >2500 residents) from before, during and after easing the lockdown period. The North East has the highest proportion of affected care homes. We will analyse and describe the changes for all care homes on a range of outcomes, including hospital admissions, discharge, readmission, mortality and infection levels. We will undertake a series of interviews with staff from a range of care homes and community clinical teams to understand changes in decision making and referral patterns, specifically exploring how different management strategies between care homes may have led to differing outcomes. The research will address research priority gaps reported to SAGE, and deliver an in-depth understanding of pathways of care between care homes and secondary care settings, leading to policy recommendations for future outbreaks and health service provision. Feasibility is underpinned by a rich dataset, an existing team with appropriate expertise, close connections to key stakeholders, and connections and a platform for dissemination.

The research will address research priority gaps reported to SAGE, and deliver an in­depth understanding of pathways of care between care homes and secondary care settings. The work will provide an evidence base for policy recommendations for future outbreaks and health service provision.

10/05/2022

TRE