The Government has announced that Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council are to receive a share of a £600 million Infection Control Fund, launched to reduce the transmission of coronavirus in care homes.
These two local authorities will receive over £12.5m in total to support local care homes and therefore almost 10,000 care home residents across the whole of Derbyshire.
The funding will be used to ensure that care homes can continue their efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus by helping them cover the costs of implementing measures to reduce transmission. This includes:
- Rolling out training on infection control for staff
- Reducing transmission by supporting providers to reduce workforce movements
- Stepping up NHS clinical support to care homes
Commenting, Maggie Throup, Member of Parliament for Erewash said: “Care staff are the heroes of this pandemic, working tirelessly to support those in our community who need it the most.
“I do not underestimate how challenging a time this is for people living and working in care. This new funding, on top of the £3.2 billion already available for local authorities, will make a real difference to care homes across Erewash.
“By putting in place stronger prevention and infection control, we can ensure continue to drive coronavirus out of our care homes, ensuring everyone is safe, residents and care workers alike.
“My Father was in a Care Home for over seven years so I have seen first-hand the dedication and love the care workers show to the residents; this will mean so much at this very difficult time.”
The fund comes on top of £3.2 billion that has already been made available to local authorities to support key public services, including social care, since the start of the crisis. It forms part of a wider package of support the Government is making available to care homes, which includes ensuring all care homes have they support they need with staffing and accessing PPE, and providing a named clinical contact from the NHS for every single care home. The named contact will assist care homes with weekly check-ins to review patients while helping staff with the use of equipment and medication.
The Government has also rolled out a new wellbeing package for social care staff, including two new helplines, led by the Samaritans and Hospice UK, to support care staff with their mental health and welling.