The Carer #48 Spring 2020

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T H E P U B L I C A T I O N F O R N U R S I N G A N D R E S I D E N T I A L C A R E H O M E S INSIDE THIS ISSUE

An Employer’s Legal Duties During The Covid-19 Pandemic W W W. T H E C A R E R U K . C O M

£1.75

where sold

SPRING 2020

Issue 48

See Page 16

INSIDE

Laundry Solutions

Hygiene and Infection Control

Furniture & Fittings

Catering for Care

ISSUE

Technology & Software

Products & Services

Professional & Recruitment

Page 27

Pages 28 - 33

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Pages 35 - 39

Pages 40 - 45

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THIS

Clarity Needed Over Emergency Coronavirus Funds, as Care Costs Grow by £1bn

The Government has been urged to provide clarity on how much individual authorities will receive from the government’s latest £1.6bn of emergency funding, with analysis revealing that the Coronavirus is adding almost £1bn to care costs in counties. Earlier this month, ministers announced the further tranche of emergency funding would be provided to councils to help fund higher service costs created by Coronavirus. The government is yet to announce how this funding will be distributed to councils, with fears growing that stretched social care budgets could receive less resources. New analysis from the County Council’s Network (CCN) reveals that due to the outbreak of the

Coronavirus, the 36 county and unitary authorities initially estimate they will need to provide care and nursing home providers with an additional £322m to meet their escalating costs, with a further £259m needed to meet increased demand for services and to ensure that the NHS has sufficient spare beds for virus victims. Councils are also planning to spend an additional £71m recruiting carers to meet demand, £144m has been spent on activity such as procuring personal protection equipment (PPE). Alongside this, an additional £138m has been allocated to support the most vulnerable children during the crisis. The network argues that in the short-term govern-

ment must ensure that emergency funding is targeted at meeting additional costs in social care services, with government providing further funding and support to councils to meet shortfalls in lost council income. CCN say that it is inevitable that councils will need a comprehensive multi-billion package of measures to meet their loss of income, with county authorities most exposed to a drop-in council tax revenue. However, the network says that any short-term funding to cover lost income should be met outside the £1.6bn to ensure funding is not reduced for care services.

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