A CARE boss has told how he went against Government guidance to keep his care home free of coronavirus.

David McGuire is chief executive of the Diagrama Foundation, which runs the 48-bed Edensor care home in Orwell Road, Clacton.

The charity supports vulnerable people through residential care, adoption and fostering.

Mr McGuire was angry after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “too many care homes didn’t follow procedures”.

In response, Mr McGuire has released extracts from a diary he kept as the pandemic spread.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

  • Care home boss - Diagrama Foundation CEO David McGuire.

They show his frustration with Government policy and the efforts made by the care home to keep staff and residents safe.

The diary details how he fell out with Colchester Hospital after he did not want to accept a person into the nursing home without a negative Covid-19 test and how, at the height of the pandemic, he only received a box of out-of-date masks and one protective suit from the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

In his diary, he recorded how he decided to go against Government guidance and asked staff to use masks at all times.

The Government guidance at that point was masks would not be delivered until someone was infected.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

  • Diary - Extracts from David's diary

“We didn’t have one case of Covid in any of the care homes I run, including the one in Clacton,” he said.

“It wasn’t just the policies and procedures we put in place, but we were also lucky.

“Other providers have been fighting so hard and they were doing everything they could.

“At the beginning it was chaos - no-one knew what to do.

“I don’t blame the Government because no-one really knew what was happening, but we should have been more prepared as we were three to four weeks behind Spain and eight weeks behind Italy.

“I looked at the reaction of other countries - the use of masks was key for maintaining a Covid-free environment.”

Following an appeal in the Gazette, PPE was donated to the care home and it does now have the stocks it needs.

Mr McGuire said care home staff were heroes, but they felt “abandoned” by the Government.

“I think they either forgot about the care homes or they were just not the priority,” he said.