A care home owner who saw many residents die with Covid-19 said lack of testing in the pandemic's early stages "undoubtedly cost lives".
Brian Rosenberg, owner of Tregwilym Lodge Nursing and Residential Home in Rogerstone, Newport, said 20 residents died with Covid-19 after the virus "spread like wildfire" through the 74-bed home.
He said staff were powerless to protect residents despite their relentless efforts and were heartbroken to lose residents who felt like "one big family" to his team.
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Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) has published data showing 1,897 suspected or confirmed Covid-19 death notifications were received from individual adult care homes in Wales between January 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Some care homes reported in excess of 20 deaths.
The care home which lost the most residents to Covid, according to the data, was Hafan Y Coed care home in Carmarthenshire which recorded 29 deaths during this period. In total, 375 care homes in Wales reported more than one Covid death, and more than 50 care homes reported in excess of 10 deaths.
Of the 1,095 registered adult care home services, two-thirds did not notify CIW of any Covid-19 related deaths.
Care homes in Wales which lost 20 or more of its residents with Covid-19
- Hafan Y Coed, Carmarthenshire: 29
- Llangollen Fechan, Denbighshire: 23
- Capel Grange Nursing Home: 21
- Brocastle Manor, Bridgend: 20
- The Hollins, Neath Port Talbot: 20
"We were devastated," Mr Rosenberg said.
"For 98% of the people who come to Tregwilym, it's the last place they will ever know. They are frail and some might have advanced dementia and they become almost like one big family.
"If you lose one member of your family after another, and watch them go in this way in quick succession and continue to work despite the circumstances, it's heartbreaking.
"In 2021, we are all much wiser and we have the benefit of vaccinations. But at that time, because of the way the virus was being transmitted and handled – and the lack of testing – transmission was inevitable.
"What was totally shocking for us was the rapidity of how it went through the home. Those who worked through it were literally on their knees. They were broken."
Brian said it was important that the Welsh Government learned lessons from the crisis, but stressed it was unhelpful to be drawn into a "blame game".
"If you're looking for people to point the finger at, then the inquiry will become very defensive. Lots of people will be trying to protect their own position. We need an open and honest discussion on what went wrong and what are the lessons learnt," he added.
"You have to bear in mind in early 2020 there were no vaccinations, there was a very poor testing regime for people going in and out of hospital and in particular discharges so that if they were asymptomatic, they were not being tested. In my view, that was one of the biggest problems.
"It undoubtedly cost lives and was a big mistake but it was the prevailing approach at that time, it was flawed and it was wrong. We can all say that in hindsight."
During the first wave of coronavirus, care homes struggled desperately because of a shortage of PPE and the lack of testing of residents and staff. Concerns were voiced that resources were being concentrated on the NHS rather than social care.
At the same time untested hospital patients were being discharged back into care homes. Although they did not have symptoms at the time many did actually have Covid.
The second surge saw the emergence of the more infectious Kent (Delta) variant of the disease, with community transmission soaring.
Louise Hough, who until recently owned Gwastad Hall Care Home in Cefn-y-Bedd, near Wrexham, said her husband Vernon took his own life because of the unbearable strain of Covid-19.
She believes Vernon's suicide might have been prevented if he had been able to do more to help his beloved residents instead of watching them die helplessly.
Gwastad Hall lost 12 patients to the virus, but Louise said the CIW figures masked the reality of situation and has called for a Wales-specific inquiry into how the Welsh Government has handled the pandemic.
"Any deaths in care homes before May 2020 are inaccurate because there was no testing. It's data for the sake of data which has happened throughout the whole pandemic," she said.
"Wales has to be held accountable for this, especially for the lack of testing. We were literally screaming at people to get staff tested from day one.
"The public need to know how badly care homes were treated. We were losing patients we'd known for a long time and who were not that old. Their own families couldn’t come in and sit with them. They were saying goodbye to their mothers and fathers on a mobile phone or iPad. You just can’t imagine it.
"These patients were gasping for breath. The truth is we found ourselves in a pandemic with a virus that primarily affects people's breathing and nursing homes didn't have any oxygen – and we still haven't. If only we had oxygen to relieve them from gasping it would’ve made a difference."
Louise also praised how well her staff worked at a time of deep uncertainty and fear.
"They were understandably very frightened not knowing what we were nursing or possibly taking home, and after the death of Vernon they too were in shock and grieving but they still came to work in those shocking conditions of not being properly tested.
"My life is never going to be the same again. My four children have lost their dad. It's had a lasting impact on my family and it has on many families. Vernon I am sure is not the only one who felt lost in all of this."
The data published by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) has been described as "flawed" as it includes deaths of all care home residents regardless of where the person contracted the virus or where the death occurred.
For example, a resident may have been admitted from a care home to hospital with a non-Covid related illness, contracted Covid-19 while in hospital and subsequently died before returning to the care home.
Gillian Baranski, chief inspector of Care Inspectorate Wales, was keen to stress: "Every notification of a death to CIW represents a life lost and families and friends grieving for their loved one. Their sadness was often compounded by Covid-19 restrictions preventing them from being with their loved one as often, or for as long as they would have wanted in their final days.
"Staff who had cared for and developed relationships with people in their care were also grieving and deeply affected by their death. We have been inspired by the innovation and resilience of people working in care homes and saw many, many examples of dedicated, compassionate and selfless care including staff sleeping at services to reduce risks to people.
"We offer our deepest sympathies to all who have lost a family member or friend as a result of the Covid-19 virus. We ask for compassion and respect to be shown to people living in care homes, to their families, and to the staff who worked tirelessly and selflessly to protect people, care for them and tackle the many challenges they faced."
Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, described the CIW statistics as flawed and inaccurate. However, CIW did point out that the fact that the death toll at certain homes was not a reflection on the quality of the care they provided.
"The profoundly traumatic impact of the pandemic is the greatest ever crisis faced by the social care sector in Wales. It was and remains our worst possible nightmare," she said.
"Too many lives have been cut short and the publication of these figures underlines the terrible toll we have all suffered. Every single death was a tragedy for those who passed away and their loved ones.
"It has also been a traumatic time for staff and managers – the stress of constant vigilance against the virus cannot be underestimated.
"It is also important to remember that most care homes did not lose any residents to Covid which means that the overwhelming majority of people were kept safe and under the circumstances that’s an absolutely incredible achievement in a sector where we have 20,000 living in care homes in Wales."
CIW said a whole range of factors impacted on the number of fatalities, including the rates of community transmission, along with the size and the layout of the homes which impacted in ways that could not have been envisaged before this pandemic.
Other factors included age, ethnicity and the fragile health of the people living in those care homes.
"All the evidence has shown that once the virus is present in a care home it is incredibly difficult to control," added Mary.
"We have worked closely with the Welsh Government throughout this crisis and we would like to acknowledge the exemplary financial support given by them to the independent social care sector, without which many care homes would have had to close putting the NHS under even more pressure.
"Credit where it is due, the rollout of the vaccine here in Wales has been a massive success and has been a game-changer in combating the virus but we are not out of the woods yet.
"The fact that the vast majority of residents and staff have been double jabbed and are now receiving boosters has reduced the risk but it has not eliminated the dangers posed by Covid."
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