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The Infection Control Fund has been extended to ensure
providers have the resources they need to halt
transmission of COVID-19 throughout winter
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The fund can be used to pay staff wages for those
self-isolating and hire more staff to restrict movement
between homes
Care providers in England will benefit from over half a
billion pounds extra funding to reduce COVID-19
transmission and help protect residents and staff
throughout winter.
The Infection Control Fund, set up in May, has now been
extended until March 2021, with an extra £546 million to
help the care sector restrict the movement of staff between
care homes to stop the spread of the virus.
The fund will help care providers pay staff full wages when
they are self-isolating, and enable staff to work in only
one care home, reducing the risk of spreading the
infection.
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, said:
From the very beginning we have done everything possible
to make sure our social care system is protected and has
the resources it needs to keep our brilliant workforce
and those they care for safe.
This new funding of over half a billion pounds will
support not only care home residents, but also some of
the most vulnerable in society living at home and in
supported living.
I know this will give peace of mind to so many, and we
will set out further detail in our Adult Social Care
Winter Plan this week.
Data published by DHSC in July showed the funding has
helped providers to take key steps to improve infection
prevention and control in care settings, including
restricting staff movement in care homes and paying staff
to self-isolate.
Minister for Care, said:
I know just how hard social care staff have been working
over the last 6 months to provide compassionate care for
our loved ones and keep them safe in the face of this
global threat. I am committed to ensuring the social care
system has everything they need for the winter months
ahead.
Today we have set out additional funding to bolster
infection prevention and protect our loved ones receiving
care.
From the start of the pandemic the government has been
doing everything it can to ensure care home residents and
staff are protected.
This includes testing all residents at least every month
and staff weekly since July, providing 208 million items of
PPE, and making a further £3.7 billion available to
councils to address pressures caused by the pandemic –
including in adult social care.
The government has also ring-fenced a total of £1.1 billion
of funding specifically for social care providers to
support infection prevention and control, on top of
billions of pounds more in local authority funding which
also covers social care.
