People who receive care and the adult social care workforce will
be further protected from COVID-19 and flu over the coming
months, as the government sets additional funding for infection
prevention and control.
Today (Thursday 30 September) Health and Social Care Secretary
has
announced an additional £388.3 million to prevent the spread of
infection in social care settings, including £25 million to
support care workers to access COVID-19 and flu vaccines over the
winter months. This will ensure social care staff who need to
travel to receive their COVID-19 or flu vaccinations are paid
their usual wages to do so and can be support 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.
Health and Social Care Secretary,
said:
“Protecting care home staff and residents has been a priority
throughout the pandemic and as we move into winter I am committed
to ensuring they have the resources they need.
“This additional funding demonstrates how we will continue to
support those delivering and receiving care.
“Everyone deserves to be cared for with dignity and respect and
our wider reforms will continue to work towards our aim of a
world-leading social care system.”
Continued funding to prevent infection spreading and provide
testing will be delivered through the Infection Control and
Testing Fund (ICTF), which was first introduced in May 2020 with
an investment of £600 million.
Today’s funding announcement includes £237 million for Infection
Control measures and £126.3 million for testing costs. This will
allow testing to continue for staff, residents and visitors to
ensure residents can see their loved ones as safely as possible.
Minister for Care, said:
“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.
“We will ensure both staff and those who receive care continue to
be protected from COVID-19, as well as other illnesses, this
winter.”
Infection prevention and control measures to protect residents
and staff include:
- Continuing to provide free PPE to protect against COVID-19 to
the adult social care sector until the end of March 2022.
- Providing regular asymptomatic COVID-19 testing .
- Continuing to support care providers to make best use of
technology to help remote monitoring including making pulse
oximeters available to care homes that have less than the
recommended number of devices.
- Continuing to support care home providers to follow guidance
on restricting workforce movement between care homes and other
care settings.
- Supporting providers to pay staff who are isolating in line
with government guidance their normal wages while doing so.
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-19) test. This
includes extending the Designated Settings Indemnity Scheme to
March 2022, supported by £478 million which has already been
pledged to continue hospital discharge programmes through the
winter until March 2022.
From November 11 any staff or visiting professionals entering a
care home will need to provide evidence of their COVID-19
vaccination or exemption status. Vaccines save lives and it is
our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk for
those in care, who are some of the most clinically vulnerable to
COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
To apply for a medical exemption, individuals will be able to
call 119 from 30 September and, if there is a medical reason for
exemption, will be issued with an application form. Each
application will be clinically reviewed and they will
automatically be contacted via post with results of their
application.
The government will also launch a consultation on extending free
PPE beyond March 2022 for Health and Social Care on 1 October.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Vaccine exemptions
The vaccines are safe and effective. The possible reasons for
exemptions are limited to continue protecting the most vulnerable
in society. Examples that might be reasons for a medical
exemption include:
- people receiving end of life care where vaccination is not in
the person’s best interests
- people with learning disabilities or autistic individuals, or
people with a combination of impairments where vaccination cannot
be provided through reasonable adjustments
- a person with severe allergies to all currently available
vaccines
- those who have had a rare adverse reaction to the first dose
Other medical conditions could also allow you to get a medical
exemption.
Time-limited exemptions will also be available for those with
short-term medical conditions.
