Health Security Agency announces Vivaldi pilot to monitor care home infections

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced a pilot scheme to monitor infections in care homes in England. The new pilot builds on the Vivaldi study during the Covid pandemic, with a wider remit to study other infections.

The Vivaldi social care project, commissioned by UKHSA in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and other partners including The Outstanding Society, Care England, and NHS England, is one of several national surveillance studies commissioned by UKHSA to gather evidence on the burden of infections across healthcare and community settings.

This new pilot will work with over 500 care homes in England to monitor infections such as Covid, flu, norovirus, and urinary tract infections, and analyse the resultant anonymised data in order to help reduce infections in care homes for older adults.

The Vivaldi study, a national surveillance study, was commissioned by UKHSA during the pandemic to investigate Covid infections in care homes. Researchers looked at the impact of Covid in care homes, what could be done to prevent the spread of infection, and the effectiveness of the Covid vaccination.

The Vivaldi survey was set up in May 2020 to measure the burden of Covid infections in care home staff and residents and understand why some homes were experiencing outbreaks. This included swab testing through the national care home testing programme and surveys completed by care home managers.

The main Vivaldi study started in June 2020 and built on the findings of the Vivaldi survey by linking routinely collected data from staff and residents in over 300 care homes in England. This data included vaccination records, hospital visits, and death records. Blood samples were also taken to study infection rates, immunity, and other factors in long-term care facilities.

The research from Vivaldi helped inform decisions during the pandemic such as limiting staff movement between care homes to reduce infection risk and highlighting the need for sick pay for care home workers.

Professor Steven Riley, director general of data, analytics and surveillance at UKHSA, said: ‘UKHSA’s collaboration with UCL on the Vivaldi study helped us understand the impact Covid-19 had in care homes and fed directly into important policy making decisions, helping to protect those living and working in adult social care settings during the pandemic.

‘We are delighted to be able to continue this work through the Vivaldi social care pilot which will improve our understanding of infections in care homes and similar environments beyond Covid-19 and will provide valuable data that will contribute to our mission to prepare for, prevent and respond to health threats, protect livelihoods and, most importantly, save lives.’

Image: congerdesign