Helen Whately MP, Minister for Care, has outlined the expectations of local authorities in relation to the adult social care winter plan. She described a new adult social care winter plan which aims to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections in care settings throughout the winter months.
A £546 million fund will be used to bolster infection control and help protect residents and staff throughout winter. For Cheshire East Care Providers this will mean further funding of approximately £4.7m. On top of the £5,320,292 already allocated to Cheshire East Council to distribute to Care Providers, this represents a total of nearly £10m so far.
The Winter Plan includes:
- A new adult social care winter plan to support care homes through winter including free PPE for people receiving adult social care and care workers
- A further £546 million Infection Control Fund
- Care providers must stop all but essential movement of staff between care homes to prevent the spread of infection. The extra funding will help care providers pay staff full wages and enable staff to work in only one care home.
- a new dashboard will monitor care home infections and help local government and providers respond more quickly.
- New Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care will be appointed to provide Clinical leadership to the social care nursing workforce
This brings the total funding for infection control measures in care homes to over £1.1 billion and underlines the government’s commitment to ensure adult social care has the resources it needs to keep residents and staff safe.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said:
We are entering a critical phase in our fight against coronavirus with winter on the horizon. Our priority over the next 6 months is to make sure we protect those most vulnerable receiving care and our incredibly hard-working workforce by limiting the spread of the virus and preventing a second spike.
This winter plan gives providers the certainty they need when it comes to PPE and provides additional support to help care homes to limit the movement of staff, stop the spread of coronavirus and save lives. We will be monitoring the implementation of this carefully and will be swift in our actions to protect residents and colleagues across the country.
The new Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care role will provide clinical and professional leadership, while upholding and raising standards among the care workforce. Recruitment will begin in October to ensure the department and sector can benefit from the professional expertise the new role will bring.
To improve understanding of where infections are taking place in care homes, a dashboard will be introduced as a single point of information for local, regional and national government to monitor outbreaks and measures being implemented to reduce it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plan-to-help-protect-care-homes-…
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-winter-pla…