RECENT NEWS

A project designed to reduce loneliness among care home residents by getting them involved in online activities with children has been launched in Nottinghamshire ahead of a nationwide launch next year.

Audley Group has appointed Graham to lead the construction of its £80m retirement village in Cobham in Surrey.

Close-contact indoor visits are barred across English care homes following the imposition of a new national lockdown effective from 5 January.

GPs and local vaccination services have been asked by the government to ensure every care home resident in their local area is vaccinated by the end of January.

A care home manager has been recognised by NHS England's top nurse as part of its Chief Nursing Officer Awards – the first time a nurse in a care home setting has been recognised in the awards.

The administrators of Four Seasons Health Care are preparing to sell the troubled chain of care homes 20 months after its collapse, according to newspaper reports.

HC-One is to open its Mossdale Residence care home in York providing residential, nursing and dementia care for up to 80 residents on 5 January.

Jonathan Freeman, founder and chief executive of the CareTech Foundation - the first independent grant-making charitable corporate foundation in the care sector - has been awarded an MBE for services to charity in the Queen’s new year’s honours list.

GPs are to earn an extra £10 for every care home resident they are able to vaccinate against Covid by the end of January in an accelerated drive by the NHS to protect the most vulnerable.

GPs have been given the green light by NHS England to start vaccinating care home residents and staff in England.

Care UK has deployed fogging machines, air purifiers and thermal imaging cameras in all 124 of its homes to boost infection control as community infection rates for Covid-19 continue to rise.

Fresh guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has banned close-contact visits in English care homes located in Tier 4 areas.

Lichfield-based provider Voyage Care has completed the acquisition of five services from local counterpart Day Opportunities.

Not-for-profit social care provider membership association National Care Forum (NCF) has launched an ebook compiling a stories about care, communities and leadership during the pandemic.

Majesticare has partnered with 4th Wave Technology and Airnitative to install clean air technology across its eight luxury care homes in southern England.

A national research project has been launched to study the impact of Covid-19 on retirement villages and extra care housing schemes across England.

The first residents have moved into the new £14m Queens Quay House care home in the West Dunbartonshire town of Clydebank in the west of Scotland.

Innovate UK has awarded £140,000 to a new tool developed by an offshoot of tech outfit Florence that helps care providers more safely staff their services.

The Welsh government has relaxed guidance for discharging hospital patients who have tested positive for Covid to social care settings.

Meallmore, one of Scotland’s largest independent care home operators, is to expand its portfolio following a £41m cash injection backing from HSBC UK.