THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 83 | PAGE 7
Welcome for Extra £60m to Aid Care Staff Crisis The government will provide an extra £60 million to local authorities to support the adult social care response to COVID-19 in January, Minister for Care Gillian Keegan has announced. The Adult Social Care – Omicron Support Fund is on top of the £388 million infection control and testing fund announced earlier in the year to prevent infections and provide testing in the care sector. As cases of Omicron rise rapidly around the country, the additional £60 million will help protect both those who receive care, the family and friends who support them, as well as the adult social care workforce. Local authorities can use the funding to support the sector and protect people from COVID-19 infection. This includes investing in improved ventilation, increasing the use of Direct Payments – which are offered to people with eligible social care needs so they have choice and control over their care and support arrangements – or paying for COVID-19 sickness and self-isolation pay for staff. Minister for Care Gillian Keegan said: “Protecting care staff and people who use social care services continues to be a priority, especially as cases surge and Omicron spreads rapidly around the country. “This extra funding will ensure that we continue to support adult social care to keep people safe and prevent outbreaks. A huge thank you goes out to care workers for all they are doing to care for people and keep themselves and others safe this winter. “I urge anyone who has yet to get a booster to come forward – vaccines are our best defence against this virus so Get Boosted Now.” The government has taken action throughout the pandemic to protect social care, including: • Continuing to provide free PPE to protect against COVID-19 to the adult social care sector; • Providing regular asymptomatic COVID-19 testing; and • Continuing to support care providers to make best use of technology to help remote monitoring including making pulse oximeters available to care homes that have less than the recommended number of devices.
Care home guidance was changed recently to protect residents further by allowing each resident to have three listed visitors as well as an essential care giver, either a family member or friend, who may visit the home to offer companionship or help with care needs. People living in care homes are typically more vulnerable to severe illnesses as a result of COVID-19, and measures are in place to facilitate visiting while keeping care home staff and residents safe. Visitors should receive a negative lateral flow test result and report it on the day of their visit. Care providers have welcomed the £60m Government cash injection for the sector but wished it had come sooner. The Independent Care Group (ICG) says every penny of support is vital as care providers fight the growing impact of Covid-19 on care of the vulnerable. ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “We welcome the £60m the Government is providing to local authorities to support social care – it is absolutely vital. “Our only dismay is that the Government did not act at the end of the summer, when we warned of an impending staff crisis, and not now that we are in it. “This money will take time to filter through to the front line and in the meantime care providers are struggling to fill their staff shifts today, tomorrow and next week.” On Christmas Eve, it announced that care providers would also be able to resume recruiting overseas staff to provide care after that was halted following Brexit. Mr Padgham added: “Both of these moves are very welcome but long, long overdue. We warned in the summer that social care was heading into a very real staffing crisis and appealed to the Government then for help. “Only now is it responding with what many will agree is too little and too late.” Care providers looking after people in nursing and care homes and through homecare in their own homes, are struggling as the impact of the new omicron Covid-19 variant is felt. “With every passing day, providers are losing staff to the pandemic and finding it impossible to fill their shifts,” Mr Padgham added. “We need urgent help to prevent the care of our oldest and most vulnerable from suffering this winter.”
Revitalise Chief Executive Awarded CBE in New Year Honours List Janine Tregelles, Chief Executive of Revitalise, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours list for her Services to Learning Disability. Janine has been supporting disabled people and their families for over 30 years. She began her career at New Era Housing Association, developing community-based housing for people with a learning disability. In 1996, Janine moved to Mencap where she set up Golden Lane Housing, a social housing provider, before being appointed Director of Personal Support, and then CEO in 2013. After leaving Mencap in 2019, Janine founded Access Social Care, a charity providing free legal advice and information to people with social care needs. In January 2020, Janine became Chief Executive of Revitalise, the UK’s largest specialist provider of respite holidays for disabled people and their carers. With a 24-hour care service, Revitalise is an important lifeline in the disability and care sector, with a vision that every disabled person and carer can enjoy the holiday they want, with the support they need.
Janine Tregelles, Chief Executive of Revitalise said: “I am proud and delighted to accept this recognition for the contribution that I and so many colleagues have made to the social care sector over the years. It has been a privilege to work alongside people with a learning disability and their families. Not only have I been touched and inspired by each of their personal stories, but the advocacy, dedication and ambition they have shown to fight for change in the sector has been instrumental in changing the lives of thousands of disabled people and their loved ones for the better”. George Blunden, Chair of Revitalise said: “My colleagues and I are absolutely thrilled that Janine has received such a hugely-deserved honour. Whilst we recognise that it has been awarded principally for her work at Royal Mencap Society, we are extremely fortunate that that same passion, skill, and dedication is now being reflected in her dynamic work at Revitalise, where she continues her tireless support of disabled people and their families”.