A £7MILLION boost has been given to curb the spread of coronavirus in Warwickshire care homes.
Two allocations of £3.6m from government’s Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund, in June and again in July have been given to Warwickshire County Council.
The money is allocated per bed to 171 care homes in Warwickshire, with around a quarter of the funding used to support wider workforce resilience and infection control in the care sector.
Funding is now only passed on if certain requirements are met including participation in training and a commitment to regular testing of staff and residents.
The money is being used for infection control measures including paying for extra staff cover, building modifications to enable segregation, provision of PPE and decontamination and deep cleaning when required.
Council health and adult social care spokesman Les Caborn said: “Warwickshire is doing great work in partnership with this sector to keep some of our most vulnerable residents as safe as possible at this time.
“This additional round of funding will bolster the system further by providing extra workforce resilience and enabling homes to take appropriate measures to control spread of the virus and safely admit visitors.
“The positive feedback from providers, partners and regulators about how well the care system has worked together and the high level of support they have received gives me confidence that we are doing all the right things to minimise risk to people’s health.”
As the rate of Covid-19 infection has decreased, restrictions placed on care home visits have been lifted and people can now see loved ones at many homes around the county.
The council says while allowing people to visit family and friends is beneficial to wellbeing it does involve increased risk of new infections.
To help combat this it has produced signage for each home to display and share with visitors which makes it easier to understand and follow.
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/coronavirus for more information.
