Leeds Care Association – The Care Home Experience during Covid

In March 2020 as the world started to lockdown due the Covid pandemic, staff working with older people in care homes or providing home care directly found themselves on the frontline in the battle to protect and look after some of our most vulnerable citizens.

In the midst of the unknown and constantly changing guidelines care staff put their lives on the line to make sure people being supported in care homes continued to be looked after during this time.

Brian Daniels, founder of Pluto Play Productions has been commissioned by Leeds Care Association to research and capture the stories behind the headlines. We spoke with Michelle Atkinson, General Manager of Leeds Care Association to find out more about why the organisation decided to commission Unforgettable - Telling the Care Home Story and the process so far…

Michelle Atkinson, General Manager of Leeds Care Association

Why is this story so important to tell?

It’s critical everyone hears the story about what actually happened during the Pandemic in care homes – the impact it has had on the older residents and of course the staff.

There were a lot of misconceptions about what was happening in care homes at the time of the pandemic and what staff and residents were experiencing. It’s vital that we bring care homes to the forefront of the Covid story and put the care home perspective front and centre.

Many care homes found themselves having to manage residents being discharged with Covid because the hospitals were so over-run. The Government had no clear protocol for what should happen in this situation and often Covid was brought back to the homes.

It was a soul-destroying time for care homes. And yet staff still went to work and did everything they could to protect the residents. Some staff stayed over to minimise the risk of bringing the infection into work. Even when the guidance changed staff still self-isolated and didn’t socialise in order to protect their residents.

I was working in a PPE hub in Leeds and we had so many care homes ringing desperately trying to source PPE. Unfortunately, in many instances the supplies were just not available through the usual routes. The Government failed to prepare for something of this scale and in turn we had care homes meeting PPE suppliers in car parks trying to secure PPE for their staff. It is stories like this that need to be heard – people need to understand the additional stress and trauma care organisations went through to protect the people they cared for and their staff.

We know this was not a situation exclusively happening in Leeds – there were national shortages. But staff were putting their lives on the line, and they were failed by a system that was not prepared and unable to cope with the Pandemic.

What was the brief you gave Brian for the narrative you wanted to capture?

We commissioned this play because we wanted to find an engaging way to educate people about the impact of covid on care homes.

It’s really, really important to hear things from the care home perspective - staff, owners and managers, residents and families.

It is also about commemorating the people who lost their lives to Covid. Many care homes lost residents and staff and that was really hard for everyone so this play is a tribute to them.

Care home staff worked so hard during the Pandemic and they took an awful bashing in the media. Many people don't realise that the guidelines on areas such as stopping or reducing visiting opportunities was mandated by the Government and not the care homes. It was heart-breaking to have to implement such guidelines and the care staff were on the front line in being the liaison with families in this difficult situation – and in the early days being the person with a families loved one as they came to their end of life.

Tell us a bit about the process of working with Brian and commissioning?

It's been amazing!

There were a lot of aspects we wanted to try and capture so I put Brian in touch with care home managers directly and he chatted with them to find out more about their experiences.

Sharon Earnshaw, General Manager at Headingey Hall Care Home and Retirement Apartments was one of the first people to volunteer to chat to Brian. She had met him at the opening of their ‘Garden of Reflection’ which is a space created in their garden for staff, residents and families to pause, take a breath and reflect on everything that happened over the past few years.

We’ve now had a number of Leeds Care Association members speak to Brian, as well as someone who worked in the adult social care team. I have also managed to connect a relative of a resident in a care home during Covid so getting that family perspective has also been valuable.

Brian turned around the first draft of the opening to the play very quickly and I just thought ‘Wow’ – it gave me goosebumps. Words are really powerful and we can capture such strong narratives, and a diverse range of experiences through the context of the play.

Brian continues to send through sections of the play as they are being developed to sense check everything.

Who are you hoping to influence?

Anyone that will listen… commissioners, councils, Clinical Commissioning Groups, the NHS especially the Department of Health and Social Care.

But the commissioning of this play also goes beyond wanting to influence policy. It is also about recognition for the staff who worked during the Pandemic. It’s about their story and what they went through being heard and being visible - not from a government perspective but as their story, from their mouths.

We hope when the play is ready there will be an opportunity for it to tour to other areas of the country.

An emerging theme in the play are the accounts of the impact this has had on the mental health of staff and families. Whilst there is support out there for staff now uptake was slow during Covid because I don’t think people could process what was happening in the middle of the situation.

When is the play being launched?

Brian will be launching the play with a reading of the first scene at our annual Leeds Care Association conference on 30 June. The whole play will last around 45 minutes and is perfect for social care conferences and learning events.