BRADFORD Council has urged the Government to make replenishing supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) its absolute priority.

It says it has not run out of the vital equipment, but there is a “limited supply”.

It comes amid growing national concern about the spread of Covid-19 in care homes, with experts calling for deaths of residents to be included with daily updates for deaths in hospitals, amid fears they are going “under the radar”.

Weekly data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed around 10 per cent of deaths registered up to April 3 in England and Wales were outside hospitals. Professor Yvonne Doyle told the daily Downing Street press conference that Public Health England was working with the ONS to get faster data on deaths in care homes, hospices, private homes and elsewhere.

In the Bradford district, there have been three officially confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in care homes.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We cannot thank care workers enough for the vitally important job they are doing during this difficult period.

“They are all going above and beyond to look after our loved ones and keep in contact with relatives as best they can. We provided guidance to the public that no visitors should attend care homes from March 25 to protect residents from infection.

"Every care home, both in the private and public sector, has received an allocation of PPE from the Government and, so far, we have not run out but there is a limited supply.”

She added: “Replenishing these supplies should be the Government’s absolute priority and we have made this point direct to Government.

“The supply of PPE needs to be accelerated for the social care sector, as well as the NHS.

“All parts of the health system have been hit with this problem.

“Three residents in care homes across the district have sadly died during the current lockdown and our thoughts are very much with those families who have lost someone.

“Our infection, prevention and control team continue to working with these homes to ensure they have the support they need to deliver care to residents and prevent the spread of the virus to other residents.”

Meanwhile, the Bradford Care Association (BCA) which supports more than 70 per cent of residential care homes, nursing homes and domiciliary care providers in the district, warned that care homes are “currently receiving lots of correspondence from unknown suppliers looking to sell PPE at extortionate prices”.

However, BCA chairman Konrad Czajka, who is also the managing director of Saltaire-based Czajka Care Group, which owns and operates five care and nursing homes, said: “Thankfully the majority of our members have good relationships with their existing suppliers, who have worked very hard to secure products alongside air freighting in stock from overseas.

“As a result, we believe care homes can still secure the most sought-after products in order to maintain a safe environment for residents and teams.

“Any members that are having issues with PPE are also able to access trusted supplier contacts from other members.”

He added: “Bradford Council are also being very supportive by distributing PPE.

“They have a further three-month supply of PPE arriving within the next two weeks from China and this will be cascaded right across nursing, residential and home care providers in Bradford.

"The BCA is working with Bradford Council to make sure that supplies of PPE are adequate for the safety of both residents and heroic care staff. Care workers are also able to visit testing stations by appointment to test for Covid-19.

“The issue of Covid-19 finding its way into care homes is making headlines and preventing this from happening is obviously a priority for the BCA and our members. We have been working closely with members to follow all the government guidelines, whilst continuing to share best practise.

“Unfortunately, the highly contagious nature of this virus means there have still been cases of Covid-19 reported in several Bradford care homes, but our industry is highly experienced in infection control, with stringent policies and procedures in place across every aspect of daily life, and these are now more important than ever.”