The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a £388.3m winter package to prevent the spread of infection in social care settings.
The funding includes £237m for infection control measures and £126.3m for testing costs through the Infection Control and Testing Fund (ICTF), which was first introduced in May 2020 with an investment of £600m.
The additional funding will mean continuing free PPE provision to protect against Covid to the adult social care sector until the end of March 2022.
The winter package also includes £25m to enable care workers to access Covid and flu vaccines and ensure staff who need to travel to receive their jabs are paid their usual wages to do so and be supported with travel costs.
To boost flu vaccine uptake among social care staff, GP practices will be able to vaccinate care home staff that are not registered at their practice.
Uptake will be regularly monitored by region to allow a targeted approach, and more flu vaccines will be available earlier this year.
As part of supporting good quality discharge the government will also extend the use of designated settings for people discharged from hospital to a care home with a positive Covid test.
This includes extending the Designated Settings Indemnity Scheme to March 2022, supported by £478m that has already been pledged to continue hospital discharge programmes through the winter until March 2022.
“The social care workforce have continued to deliver high quality care in the most challenging circumstances over the past 18 months - showing true dedication and professionalism - and I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work,” said care minister Gillian Keegan (pictured).
“We will ensure both staff and those who receive care continue to be protected from COVID-19, as well as other illnesses, this winter,” she added.
The government will also launch a consultation on extending free PPE beyond March 2022 for health and social care on 1 October.
National Care Forum said the winter package is “too little too late”.
“Whilst the £388m funding is welcome, it should be noted that this represents a 23 per cent reduction of equivalent funding provided by the government in only July of this year, and [a] 44 per cent reduction of that provided in April of this year,” said chief executive Vic Rayner.
“Yet for care services, nothing has changed in terms of the areas that the fund is intended to support.
Rayner continued: “The testing regime remains, the strictures around visiting are still in place, there are extra conditions around vaccination ongoing with more on the horizon, isolation for staff working with clinically vulnerable people is still required and infection control measures including the restriction of staff movement remain a firm requirement.”
