Rochdale borough to receive £2.1m of £600m care home support package to help reduce coronavirus infections

The Rochdale borough is set to receive a £2.1m share of a new £600 million Infection Control Fund, introduced to tackle the spread of Covid-19 in care homes. 

Rochdale will receive £2,157,991 to support local care homes, which currently have 1,660 beds registered in the area.

The fund, which is ringfenced for social care, will be given to local authorities to ensure care homes can continue to halt the spread of coronavirus by helping them cover the costs of implementing measures to reduce transmission.

Care homes will be asked to restrict permanent and agency staff to working in only one care home wherever possible. The funding could be used to meet the additional costs of restricting staff to work in one care home and pay the wages of those self-isolating.

Councillor Allen Brett, leader of Rochdale Council, said: "I welcome the additional cash Rochdale has received, to help support the robust Covid-19 infection control measures already put in place by the council.

"As council leader I want to say how much pride there is at the amazing work of all frontline staff who have worked tirelessly to help, support and care for our most vulnerable residents. Their sterling efforts have helped to save lives and provide vital support for the vulnerable.

“I have no doubt that our proactive initiatives, like procuring vital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from day one, quickly passing on government cash to support the sector, providing accommodation for frontline staff and ensuring vital beds were available and regularly communicating our messages to care homes have helped to make a difference. There is still a lot of hard work still to do and the extra cash will help our dedicated care support."

Commenting, Chris Clarkson, MP for Heywood and Middleton, 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 will make a real different to local care homes in my constituency of Heywood and Middleton.

“By putting in place stronger prevention, we can ensure that we continue to drive coronavirus out of our care homes, making them safer and better able to look after residents.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This £600 million Infection Control Fund will help as we continue to reduce infections in care homes and save lives.

“From the very start of this outbreak, we have been working to protect our brilliant social care workforce and the most vulnerable in our society.

“Our package sets out clearly the extra steps local councils and care homes should be taking as we stamp out the spread of this virus.”

In further measures announced:

• all local authorities must conduct a daily review of care homes in their area to ensure care homes have the support they need with staffing, help with accessing PPE and other areas of operation
• the NHS will ensure that each care home has a named clinical contact to provide better access to clinical advice through weekly check-ins to review their patients, and offer direct support for staff with use of equipment and medication
• a wellbeing package for social care staff is also being rolled out today on the new CARE app including 2 new helplines, led by the Samaritans and Hospice UK. This will help support care staff with their mental health and wellbeing and support those who have experienced a traumatic death as part of their work or help with anxiety and stress

Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “Our care homes, and those working tirelessly to look after our loved ones are at the heart of our fight against this invisible enemy, which is why we’re doing everything we can to make sure the sector has all the support it needs to stop the spread and save lives. 

“Our support package introduces stronger measures on infection control and steps up clinical support to make sure there is a clinical lead assigned to every care home right across the country to offer advice and quicker support.

“This is an important set of measures to support care homes and their staff – to continue to do wonderful work caring for people, even at this most difficult of times.”

Wellbeing support 

Samaritans, working with NHS England, have extended the use of their helpline to all social care workers. Social care staff will be able to speak to a trained Samaritans adviser who will provide a non-judgmental listening ear, safe space to offload and signposting to other services. 

Hospice UK will also extend their bereavement and trauma support hotline to people working in social care, with specialist counsellors available to support staff who have experienced trauma, stress or anxiety through their work. Mental health and wellbeing guidance for the adult social care workforce was recently published on the app to support staff and employers through the outbreak.

Testing

All symptomatic and asymptomatic care home staff and residents in England are already eligible for testing, and testing is prioritised for care homes that look after the over 65s. The new digital portal now enables care homes to register for the delivery and collection of test kits directly.

Workforce recruitment 

The announcement also aims to further boost the social care workforce and work has begun to attract thousands more people into social care over the next three months through the new national social care recruitment campaign.

NHS support will see nurse returners being deployed to care homes through the Bringing Back Staff programme, as well providing infection control nurses to lead a ‘train the trainers’ approach for care homes available to every area in England. This includes advice about the recommended approach to infection prevention control, PPE usage and testing advice.

This programme commenced at the beginning of May with the offer available to every area in England.

Paul Johnstone, Deputy SRO for PHE COVID-19 Response at Public Health England (PHE), said: “We are delighted that the social care sector will get even more support in the form of the Social Care Fund, based on PHE research and emerging evidence from the World Health Organization. We are confident that these interventions will help to further reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and keep our care home residents and workers safe.  

“The excellent work carried out by Directors of Public Health and PHE’s Health Protection Teams has already made a huge difference to the local response to COVID-19. We will continue working with NHS England and DHSC to provide advice and support to the sector.”

Responding to the publication of the Government’s Care Home Resilience Plan announced by the Health Secretary at the Downing Street briefing, Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “This package of support is a recognition of councils’ vital leadership role in our national effort to combat coronavirus and protect our elderly and most vulnerable.

“Social care is the frontline in the battle against this dreadful disease. As this plan makes clear, councils have a close relationship with their local care homes and are already working alongside NHS leaders and with people using social care services.

“Councils will be reviewing their existing plans to continue supporting them and ensure those who rely on and work in social care are able to stay safe and well.

“Other aspects of care homes which councils do not have direct control over, such as the long-term future of the care home market, need to be met by government.

“In particular, we know that some of these new measures will need ongoing funding and resources beyond what has already been made available to councils and providers. It is good news that government has committed to working with councils on future funding support, this needs to be made available as soon as possible to help meet increasing demand and costs.

Rochdale Council have been contacted for a comment.