More than 200 patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes in Wirral without a Covid-19 test last spring.
Until April 16, 2020, patients did not have to test negative for coronavirus before being transferred to a care home.
On a national level, Care England blamed hospital discharges for spreading the virus into nursing and residential homes last spring.
On April 16, government guidance changed so that patients had to return a negative test result before they could be transferred to a care home.
A freedom of information (FOI) request sent by the ECHO showed that between March 1 and April 15 last year 231 patients were transferred from hospitals to care homes in Wirral without being tested for Covid-19.
Dr Nikki Stevenson, medical director and deputy chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, said: “We have followed the government guidance throughout the pandemic, working with our partners in the health and social care system to ensure patients are discharged with the appropriate advice for their onward care and treatment.”
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A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said it has taken swift action to limit the spread of the virus as new evidence has emerged.
In 2020, 194 people were killed by the virus in Wirral’s care homes.
That makes up a significant percentage of the borough’s 622 total Covid deaths last year, the majority of which were registered in hospitals.
On two separate weeks during the first wave last April, there were 30 or more deaths in the borough’s care homes, a figure which dropped off considerably in May and the early summer.
For example, 13 Covid-19 deaths in Wirral's care homes were registered in the four weeks up to June 26.
While there is no direct evidence that allowing patients to enter Wirral's care homes without a negative test until April 16 caused Covid-19 outbreaks, critics such as Care England suggested it was a factor in bringing the virus into care homes last spring.
Across the whole pandemic, 828 people have died of coronavirus in Wirral, 243 of them have passed away in Wirral’s care homes.
Wirral’s hospitals have recorded the majority of virus deaths in the borough, as might be expected, at 537.
A spokesperson from DHSC said: “Throughout the pandemic we have taken the advice of scientific and medical experts, and as new evidence has emerged we have taken swift action to try and limit the spread of the virus.
“We have been doing everything we can to protect care homes - providing billions of pounds of additional funding, free PPE, infection control guidance, increased staff testing and providing priority vaccines.
“It is crucial everyone receives the right care, in the right place, at the right time, including safe discharges from hospital to the most appropriate setting.”
