The Department of Health and Social Care has announced a £250 million funding boost will go towards adult social care to uphold their COVID-19 protections.
The funding is being sourced from the Infection Control and Testing Fund, which supported care homes to bring in rapid testing for staff and offered funding for staff who were required to self-isolate. The Infection Control and Testing Fund was due to end in June but has now been extended until September.
Minister for Care, Helen Whately, said: “We are keeping up our support for social care through the pandemic. This new funding will help care services continue to protect those they look after and their staff from this cruel virus.”
“It brings our total support to social care to £2 billion during the pandemic, along with billions of items of free PPE, over 120 million tests and the prioritisation of social care in the vaccination programme.”
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England said: “The extension of the ICF and Testing Fund is very welcome, and we applaud the DHSC in securing this extension. The adult social care provider sector has worked extremely hard to continue to protect the people it supports and cares for through extensive infection control and testing procedures. This funding is a recognition of these efforts.”
“Care England is happy to work at speed to ensure the successful roll out of the money to the front line where it is most needed and where providers have been anxiously waiting for news.”
Further details can be found here.
