9 minute read
Health & Family
Care home conundrum
COULDwe have done better to protect the residents of care homes during the pandemic? They were always likely to be most susceptible to the new coronavirus, and despite government promises to put a protective ring around care homes, there were 30,000 excess deaths – mostly from Covid – in England in the first 23 weeks of the pandemic.
Other European countries also suffered high care home deaths. The question is, will we do better next time? – as there surely will be a next time.
One bit of the jigsaw showing where we went wrong was revealed in the High Court last month, which ruled that the government’s policy of discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in England in March and April 2020 was unlawful.
It was also extremely risky, and very poor infection control, because we knew that the virus could spread both without any symptoms and before symptoms occurred. And yet care homes were not even advised that untested, asymptomatic patients should be isolated for 14 days after discharge from hospital.
Even if they had been told to do this, many overcrowded and understaffed homes just wouldn’t have had the capacity to do this. So why did we send infected patients back to the places where they were most likely to spread the virus to those who were most likely to die from it?
We got ourselves in a terrible mess for two reasons. The first was that the experts advising the government concluded that a respiratory virus that spread rapidly in the air and often without symptoms would be impossible to stop, and it would be a waste of time and effort to try.
So we didn’t even try border controls, face masks and a test-trace-isolate programme in the beginning and didn’t change course when East Asian countries were getting success in suppressing the virus with these methods.
It’s doubtful that the bumbling inefficiency and bolshy individualism of the British could have matched the urgent action and conformism of, say, South Korea or Taiwan, but perhaps we could have reduced the height of the first wave by acting sooner. By DrPHIL As it was, we imported the virus in large HAMMOND numbers from all over the place and let it spread freely in our communities. We didn’t have enough PPE and barely any tests. When faced with a massive wave, we had only two choices. Take it on the chin or lockdown (or, as it turned out, both). We don’t have many spare beds in our hospitals at the best of times and we were desperate to avoid the awful pictures of an overloaded health service seen in northern Italy. So the government made a very tough choice. It discharged as many elderly patients as possible from hospitals, most without testing them, to clear space for younger Covid patients who might survive aggressive treatment and ventilation. This was a rationing decision and always going to be at the cost of increased spread and deaths in care homes. However, some care homes kept residents safe by refusing admissions that had not been negatively tested, although many were pressured into accepting them. Others asked staff to live onsite or nearby in isolation to prevent transmission. The government could have trebled the meagre pay of care home workers, put them up in, say, caravan parks or hotels and kept mixing to a minimum. We could have used empty hotels or unused Nightingale hospitals as a step between hospital and care home to quarantine infected residents, or give them decent end of life care, but that would have required more staff. As it was, thousands of elderly residents were isolated in care homes, still caught Covid and died alone. Widespread testing and better PPE belatedly improved safety, and it also allowed relatives to visit. Next time, we need to get up to speed quicker and better protect those most likely to die whilst allowing named relatives to visit and be there at the end of life.
Plop the Raindrop
I LIKEthe spring, when all the blossom comes out. I usually try to hitch a ride with a friendly bee to see what’s about, starting with snowdrops early on.
That’s if any lazy bees can bother to come out of their holes or hives on the odd sunny day in February. There’s more room on a bumble bee than a honey bee. Bumble bees look like a flying brick.
I like to find a comfy spot on their head so I can hop off if I want to stay in a particular flower. We water droplets are small enough to do that. It also avoids the bees’ wings which could throw me a mile if they hit me.
After daffodils, things start to get really busy, so I have a huge choice of what to try. I’m quite partial to rosemary, which has beautiful blue flowers.
I’ve developed quite a friendship with some of the bees who are happy to tell me what new flowers are out. Sometimes it means flying quite a long way.
One bee was particularly partial to primroses. I hopped off her after we had visited the 14th flower and asked another bee if she could find some wallflowers. But there was more to come. Dandelions, bluebells and wild garlic tasting of – well garlic.
Then all the trees start to have blossom. I probably don’t need to tell you what cherries, apples and pears taste like. There will be poppies, orchids and hawthorn blossom next!
I sometimes feel really guilty, just going for a ride, when the bees are working so hard. But you can help. If there’s space, think about planting wild flowers in your garden. It will encourage more insects, which will help the birds. And it might give me even more to eat!
MENDIP GRANDAD
Dementia project is back up-and-running
VOLUNTEER-run Shepton Mallet Dementia Action Alliance is returning with renewed energy after a two-year break due to the pandemic.
To coincide with Dementia Awareness Week in May, the alliance launched a number of ongoing weekly social events for people with dementia, their partners and carers.
They include a seated movement session on Tuesday mornings called Love2Move at the town’s Art Bank Café which is followed by a coffee and chat.
Friday afternoons see Music2Connect with the Shepton Mallet Ukelele Group at the Salvation Army rooms in Commercial Road.
There are also plans for informal book readings, a nature session called Wild Memories Garden and a regular T&Skittles event.
The alliance is also hoping to breathe new life into its efforts to make Shepton Mallet a dementia-friendly community working alongside shops and businesses.
The alliance was given permission to run an information stall at the town’s Friday market and were delighted to find they were situated opposite a stall run by Somerset Care and its community-based home care offshoot Willows.
Sister Ann Martin, from the alliance, said: “It’s a perfect example of how we would like to connect with other organisations. We’re already talking to several groups in Wells to share ideas and best practice.”
Sister Anne Martin and Ross Pratten, from the Shepton Mallet DAA, with Emma Henley, Frome and Shepton Mallet locality manager for Willows, and Catherine Potter, Somerset Care’s business manager
For details, email sheptonmalletdaa@btinternet.com or call 01749 840681
Choosing a celebrant for your wedding with Rachel Branston
“I DO”,exclaimed the bride. Well, that’s what you expect at a wedding isn’t it? Except at that moment, she, the groom, the officiant and ten of their wedding guests were plummeting to the ground at 120mph from 16,000 feet up in the air.
The bride and groom were keen skydivers and had decided to use their joint passion to create their most personal and memorable wedding ceremony. The most difficult part they said, was finding a celebrant who would jump with them.
I was not the celebrant at that skydiving wedding. I’m sorry, I’m not that brave but I have seen so many wonderful, and less scary, examples of personalised ceremonies that truly reflect the happy couple’s personalities.
The traditional church wedding may have its own beauty but the reality today is that fewer than one in four weddings take place in a religious setting. Most couples today prefer a ceremony under their own terms. Many may not even want a legal marriage but still choose to declare their partnership with a ceremony of some kind.
So, what are your options when you decide to “tie the knot”? Well, literally, the sky is the limit. The legal part can be completed simply in a few minutes with two witnesses and an authorised officiant. Your ceremony, however, can be whatever you want to make it. Some of the more popular, and “down to Earth” ceremony elements include:
“Handfasting”
Where friends mark the exchange of vows by binding the couple’s hands together with ribbons or cords. Some even choose something more symbolic of their professions or interests such as bicycle chains or computer leads.
“Planting a Tree” If you are happy to risk a little soil spill, the idea of planting a tree sapling in a pot, maybe with the help of close family, can symbolise the start of your marriage and growing together. This can become a treasured symbol that moves with you from house to house through your life together.
“Jumping the Broomstick” After exchanging vows and “I dos” the celebrant may offer a verse or an explanation about the significance of the broomstick which is placed on the floor. The bride and groom mark their commitment by jumping over it. The origins of this idea are lost in the mists of time but it is found in ceremonies from African Americans, Welsh Romas, Pagans and Christians in different parts of the world.
The broom used is more of the Harry Potter kind than a modern brush. It may be decorated and then kept in the family home as a keepsake.
These are just a sample of the many colourful ideas available but, for the creative, there is nothing to stop you creating your own “tradition”. Well, someone has to be the first.
You could choose to walk down the “aisle” together, you can involve family and friends as participants and you can use music, symbolism and verse in any ways you like.
You don’t have to exchange vows whilst jumping from the skies or snorkelling beneath the waves to create a very memorable event. Choosing a celebrant sympathetic to your outlook on life, however, is the first step to a ceremony that is all about you.
