RECENT NEWS

Care home residents and carers will be first to get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 after it was cleared for clinical use by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority.

Sentinel Health Care has been ordered to pay £167,670 at West Hampshire Magistrates’ Court in Southampton after a 56-year-old man died from Legionnaires' disease while in its care.

Care home residents in all tiers across England will be able to see their families at Christmas via indoor visits under new Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance.

Morgan Sindall Later Living has achieved practical completion on an 80-bed extra care scheme in York.

Care consultancy Meaningful Care Matters has launched an online advent calendar to help caregivers “open a window of possibility” to make a difference each day this month.

Property adviser Knight Frank has announced the winners of its inaugural Healthcare Heroes Awards that recognise people working within the social care sector.

National Care Group (NCG) has signed a contract with property management outfit Velway to provide maintenance and compliance services across the former’s care home portfolio.

Kingsley Healthcare has opened its £12m Brackley luxury care home in Northamptonshire that will house up to 66 residents.

A new on-demand service to get care home residents stretching, singing and socializing has been launched by wellbeing business Oomph!.

Channel 4 has commissioned a film set in a fictional Liverpool care home at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last spring.

Care technology provider Person Centred Software (PCS) has hooked up with NHS Digital’s GP Connect service to bring patient information directly to care homes in England.

Care England has condemned extra funding for social care unveiled by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Spending Review as leaving the sector “in the cold” as it battles the pandemic this winter.

The government has urged care homes, residents, and their families in England to think “very carefully” about joining a household for Christmas amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Real estate investment manager Frogmore has completed a £26.3m loan deal with OakNorth Bank to build a 35-bed specialist dementia care home in the City of Westminster.

National pharmacy chain Well has formed a partnership with MED e-care to provide care homes with the latter’s eMAR (electronic medication administration record) service.

Care home residents will be allowed two visitors twice a week by end of year in England as part of the government’s Covid-19 winter plan.

The government’s proposals to ban the movement of social care workers between care homes will struggle to work in practice, according to Care England.

The UK care home sector has adapted “immensely well” to the challenges posed by Covid-19, resulting in a resilient trading performance, according to the UK Care Homes Trading Performance Review 2020 by property advisers Knight Frank.

Temporary pods are to be provided to care homes across Wales to better facilitate visits over Christmas and the winter months.

A legal challenge over government decisions and measures taken in relation to care homes during the early stages of the pandemic has cleared a key hurdle in the High Court.