Sheffield care home boss 'desperately sad' after 16 residents die with coronavirus

Sistnee residents have now died with coronavirus at the homes of one Sheffield care firm, company bosses have revealed.
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Palms Row Health Care, which operates Newfield Nursing Home in Heeley, Northfield Nursing Home in Upperthorpe and Westbourne House Nursing Home in Grimesthorpe revealed the new on its website on Tuesday.

The company also said a staff member who had tested positive and had been transferred to intensive care in hospital was now back on general wards and recovering.

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Director, Nicola Richards, said they were ‘desperately sad’ so many of their residents had died and their ‘deepest sympathies’ went out to their family and friends at this ‘distressing time’.

She said: “Infection rates at our sites have slowed in the past week and rest assured we are doing everything we can to prevent the transmission of the disease.

“We work closely with Public Health England and infection control teams at the hospital to ensure we operate to the highest standards.”

Last month Palms Row was criticised for continuing to move residents after the pandemic had begun, with two families accusing the company of putting their loved ones in danger.

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22 residents were moved out on Newfield after families were told it had been locked down, with 22 more residents being moved into the home from hospital.

Newfield Nursing Home in Heeley is one of the sites operated by Palms Row Health Care.Newfield Nursing Home in Heeley is one of the sites operated by Palms Row Health Care.
Newfield Nursing Home in Heeley is one of the sites operated by Palms Row Health Care.

The firm said the decision was part of a planned reconfiguration of their care homes and was taken in the best interest of patients.

But Rob Linley, whose mum Ellen was a resident at Newfield House before being moved to Westbourne House in March, said he believed this had put the residents at unnecessary risk.

Palms Row later appealed to Sheffield Council for more money to help them fight the crisis, saying an emergency 15 per cent increase in Government funding had not been passed onto them and that the proposed permanent rise of 4.9 per cent actually amounted to a real-terms cut.

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The company also this week revealed that in order to maintain safe staffing levels while several employees were off sick and self-isolating, they had temporarily closed down their sister staffing agency, Heritage Oaks Healthcare, to external providers.

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