Letter from Cllr Smith regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in care homes within Oxfordshire
Released on August 6, 2020
Letter from Cllr Smith to Cllr Arash Fatemian Chair of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in care homes within Oxfordshire
Dear Cllr Fatemian,
I am writing on behalf of Vale of White Horse District Council regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in care homes within Oxfordshire. Figures list the county as the 6th worst local authority in England for the percentage of care homes which have experienced an outbreak of Covid-19, even though the overall rate of infection within the county is close to the average. The situation within Oxfordshire’s care homes is a cause of grave concern and, therefore, needs to be investigated as a matter of urgency.
Vale of White Horse District Council, therefore, requests that you convene a meeting of the Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee with the express aim of setting up a Task Force to analyse and ascertain the reasons for the observed excess deaths and infection rates in Oxfordshire’s care homes during the last three months. This review would allow for lessons to be learnt and recommendations to be made to reduce future Covid-19 infections and deaths.
We owe it to all those who have suffered, their relatives and our communities to understand why care homes in Oxfordshire have been so badly affected by Covid-19.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Emily Smith
Leader of the Council
