Care workers and the people receiving adult social care are going to be provided with free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the health and social care secretary has confirmed.
The Government today revealed its new adult social care winter plan which aims to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in care settings throughout the winter months.
As part of the plan, people receiving adult social care and care workers will receive free PPE until March.
A new dashboard will also monitor care home infections and help local government and providers respond quicker when there are outbreaks.
‘This winter plan gives providers the certainty they need when it comes to PPE and provides additional support to help care homes to limit the movement of staff, stop the spread of coronavirus and save lives,’ said health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock.
‘We will be monitoring the implementation of this carefully and will be swift in our actions to protect residents and colleagues across the country.’
A chief nurse for Adult Social Care will also be appointed to represent social care nurses and provide clinical leadership to the workforce. Mr Hancock said that further details of how the winter plan will be enforced will be set out shortly.
The announcement of the new measures follows yesterday’s announcement that an extra £546m will be made available to help the care sector restrict the movement of staff between care homes to stop the spread of the virus.
