Coronavirus and Care Homes Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Vicky Foxcroft
Main Page: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)Department Debates - View all Vicky Foxcroft's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Coronavirus and Care Homes
Vicky Foxcroft Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Matt Hancock
I think the best thing they can do is raise it with their very effective local MP, who can bring it to my attention, and that is exactly what they have done. I will get right on to it, straight after this session in the House of Commons. We have the testing capability. Of course, making sure you get exactly the right test to exactly the right place and the right care home at the right time is itself a huge logistical challenge, but I will look into this immediately.
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab) [V]
CQC data revealed a 175% increase in deaths of people with autism and learning difficulties last month, yet the new care home testing portal is only available to homes whose residents are aged 65 and over. What is the Minister doing to ensure that all care homes are able to access tests? Will the Government conduct a review of why there has been such a sharp increase in deaths among these groups?
Matt Hancock
I addressed this point in my opening response to the urgent question. We will roll out testing to care homes of all ages. This is an area that I take very seriously indeed. We are looking into the statistics that have been mentioned in the public domain. Some of the statistics are not quite as they first seem. We will make sure that we publish accurate and full statistics, because transparency is absolutely vital in this area.