The Government has announced that Derbyshire will receive a share of a £600 million Infection Control Fund, launched to reduce the transmission of Coronavirus in care homes. The county will receive £9,740,972 to support local care homes in High Peak and across the county: a total of 7,589 care home beds.

The funding will be used to ensure that local care homes can continue their efforts to halt the spread of Coronavirus by helping them cover the costs of implementing measures to reduce transmission. This includes rolling out training on infection control for staff; reducing transmission by supporting providers to reduce workforce movements; and stepping up NHS clinical support to care homes.

The fund comes on top of the £3.2 billion that has already been made available to local authorities to support key public services, including social care, since the start of the crisis. It forms part of a wider package of support the Government is making available to care homes, which includes ensuring all care homes have they support they need with staffing and accessing PPE, and providing a named clinical contact from the NHS for every single care home. The named contact will assist care homes with weekly check-ins to review patients while helping staff with the use of equipment and medication. 

The Government has also rolled out a new wellbeing package for social care staff, including two new helplines led by the Samaritans and Hospice UK, to support care staff with their mental health and welling. 

Robert Largan MP commented: 

“Care workers are heroes of this pandemic, working tirelessly to support those in the High Peak who need it the most. I do not underestimate how challenging a time this is for people living and working in care. 

“This new funding will make a real difference to High Peak care homes. By putting in place stronger prevention measures, we can ensure that we continue to drive Coronavirus out of our care homes, making them safer and better able to look after the people who need them the most.”