TWO care homes in Dorchester suffered devastating losses during the Covid pandemic.

Cheriton Care Home, in Weymouth Avenue, has recorded 22 deaths since April 2020.

Another care home in Dorchester, Signature House in Maumbury Square, recorded 19 deaths - which is the second highest.

According to CQC reports from 2019, maximum occupancy for Cheriton's Maumbury and Badbury Houses is 70, while the maximum for Signature House is 48.

No blame has been attached to the staff at either care home or their facilities and processes questioned. They were among hundreds of care homes across the country devastated by the pandemic.

The CQC report shows data of individual care homes across the country between April 10, 2020 to March 31 this year.

Statistics classify the deaths as ‘involving Covid-19’ and categorise the care homes based on size, with each listed as either medium or large.

Signature House is categorised as medium, while Cheriton Care Home which has the highest number of deaths attributed to is categorised as 'large'.

A spokesman from Cheriton Care Home, said: "Covid has been devastating for many care homes and their residents across the country, and Cheriton was no different.

"The safety and well-being of our residents and team at Cheriton is always our upmost priority, and we robustly followed Government guidance from the start of the pandemic, and continue to do so.

"Our heartfelt thoughts and deepest sympathy remain with everyone affected by loss at Cheriton Care Home, including residents, families and our team."

The data covers deaths of residents involving Covid under the care of the provider as notified to CQC, regardless of where the virus was contracted or where the death occurred, including in the care home, in hospital, in an ambulance or in any other setting.

'Challenging times in earlier stage of pandemic'

A spokeswoman from Signature House said: "The Care Quality Commission (CQC) published data on death notifications involving Covid-19 in care homes. This data shows the significant challenges we, as healthcare providers, faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The CQC itself face a significant challenge in publishing this extremely sensitive data with the relevant context.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the lives of everyone in the UK, and for some, its impact has been intense or even devastating.

"Tragically, Covid-19 has contributed to an increase in the number of deaths across the population and within residential care settings, especially in homes that care for residents who are end of life such as Signature House.

"The publication of this data is likely to rekindle the stress and grief experienced by so many of us these past 16 months, and our thoughts go out to all of those affected. The numbers of deaths tell part of the story but what they certainly do not tell of is the amazing professionalism, sacrifice and dedication of our colleagues who put themselves at risk daily to protect some of our most vulnerable residents facing the threat of this deadly global virus.

"Like everyone in the care sector, we faced challenging times in the earlier stage of the pandemic. We very much regret that due care and attention was not paid in enough depth to the needs of the social care sector by the government, especially with accessing sufficient PPE.

"However, the failure to introduce testing of colleagues and residents in those critical earlier days meant that some of our homes suffered devastating outbreaks.

"We are also aware of the extent to which we now know a lot more about the risk of asymptomatic spread of the virus and the risk of airborne infection. Our dedicated team have worked tirelessly to ensure that we have had and continue to have robust policies and procedures in place in line with Government guidelines, and all staff have received additional training and support.

"Lessons have been and will continue to be learned about the impact of this virus on our care homes and colleagues. We have the utmost confidence in each of our homes. Signature House Nursing Home has recently been audited by the CCG, who reported the home to be excellent, having robust policies and procedures in place as well as a strong audit framework.

"Finally, we want to acknowledge the difficult memories and experiences this data will bring. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of all those who have passed, in what has been an unprecedented time.

"Signature House were finally able to host their annual memorial service earlier this month and it was a very special event."

'Every number represents a life lost'

Kate Terroni, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care, said: “In considering this data, it is important to remember that every number represents a life lost – and families, friends and those who cared for them who are having to face the sadness and consequences of their death.

“We have a duty to be transparent and to act in the public interest, and we made a commitment to publish data at this level, but only once we felt able to do so as accurately and safely as possible. It is important to be clear, however, that although this data relates to deaths of people who were care home residents, many of them did not die in or contract Covid-19 in a care home.

“As we publish this data, we ask for consideration and respect to be shown to people living in care homes, to families who have been affected, and to the staff who have done everything they could, in incredibly difficult circumstances, to look after those in their care."