New support package to protect care sector this winter

A package of new measures have been announced to help protect the social care sector from coronavirus, including £300 million to help recruit and reward the workforce.

A package of new measures have been announced to help protect the social care sector from coronavirus, including £300 million to help recruit and reward the workforce.

Specialist vaccination teams are being expanded and deployed to guarantee all care home residents and staff, as well as people who are housebound and their caregivers, are offered the booster – with those most at risk prioritised for the jab.

Care homes will be able to request follow up booster visits from vaccination teams for staff and residents and home visit payments for GPs will be increased to further ramp up the home care programme.

Care workers will benefit from a £300 million extension, in addition to the £162.5 million announced in October, to support recruitment and retention. It can be used to pay for bonuses and bring forward planned pay rises for care staff, fund overtime and staff banks increasing workforce numbers up until the end of March.

In light of a new wave of the virus, visits to care homes will continue under updated guidance that permits three visitors and an essential care giver per resident, in order to balance the current coronavirus risk and the need to keep people safe in line with clinical advice.

Care settings will also be given extra guidance for infection prevention and control measures and PPE.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Throughout the pandemic we have done everything we can to protect the adult social care sector, and the emergence of the Omicron variant means this is more important than ever. This new funding will support our incredible workforce by recruiting new staff and rewarding those who have done so much during this pandemic. Boosting the booster rollout in social care and updating the visiting guidance will help keep the most vulnerable people in our society safe from the virus this winter.”

David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:“Councils and care providers have done an incredible job throughout the pandemic and continue to do all they can to support and protect those in their care.

“The additional funding is positive, and it is important that it is allocated quickly and be easily accessible so that it can make an immediate impact this winter. Moving forward, adult social care services continue to need significant and sustainable long-term investment – as opposed to short-term cash injections – to make permanent improvements so that people are supported to live the life they want to lead.

“Support with the crucial booster programme is also good to see, and we hope that this will build on ongoing local authority efforts as councils know their communities and providers well and are best-placed to make interventions at a local level.

“Keeping residents safe is a key priority for councils and the visiting measures introduced will hopefully help to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, but a balanced approach is needed with adequate support for care homes and these measures must be kept under close review.”