Infection Control Fund ‘under review’

Care England has called on the government to renew Covid-19 funding packages for the care sector.

The representative body wrote to the care minister, Helen Whately, thanking her for the packages put in place during the pandemic and provided some suggestions as to how future funding could be administered in order to provide certainty and confidence for providers, staff, residents and relatives.

Care England proposed that future funds could be adapted to lessen the administrative burden with simplified reporting structures. Of special concern is the continuation of the Infection Control Fund, now in its second iteration.

This fund, intended to reduce the rate of Covid-19 transmission within and between care settings, expires on 31 March.

Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England, said: ‘Unfortunately, Covid-19 doesn’t end on 31 March yet many of the government relief packages come to a halt then including the Infection Control Fund.

‘The costs associated with the pandemic are by no means going to subside in the short term, this is of particular concern given the low fees currently being proposed by many local authorities for 2021/22; as such we would welcome support from the government.

‘Indeed, it is imperative that any such funds reach the frontline and are not wasted in a tangle of bureaucracy.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it expects to provide £1.55bn as grant funding directly for spending pressures on local authority services, including adult social care.

‘Protecting residents in care homes is our number one priority and we are doing everything we can to support the sector, including offering free PPE and providing over £1.1 billion for infection control measures.

‘We continue to work closely with the social care sector and we will keep future funding arrangements under review.’

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