Matt Hancock announces further £341m for care sector's Covid infection control and testing costs

Health secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs the government will give a further £341m to fund the care sector’s Covid infection control and testing costs to support care home visits.

Announcing the long-awaited extension of funding to support care home visits in the House of Commons on 18 March, Matt Hancock said: “I remain equally committed to supporting the vital work of our colleagues in adult social care.

£341m 'will make sure visits are safe for everyone'

"Last Monday, we reopened care homes to visitors, with a careful policy of a single regular visitor who will be tested and wear PPE.

“I know how important this is – and I know colleagues will be cheered by the stories we hear each day of more and more residents safely reunited with the people they love. It means everything to them.

“I can today announce a further £341 million to support adult social care with the costs of infection prevention control and testing that will make sure visits are safe for everyone.

“This takes the total infection control fund and testing support to more than £1.6 billion, alongside the free PPE that care homes receive.”

The government has announced an extension of funding up until the end of June 2021.

The government announced:

• £202.5 million extra funding for the Infection Control Fund in adult social care

• £138.7 million for rapid testing in adult social care from existing Test and Trace funding

The details of the infection control and testing funding and the conditions within it are yet to be announced.

The care sector has welcomed the announcement, after calling for an extension of infection prevention and rapid testing funds which had been scheduled to end on 31 March.

NCF: Extension of funding came 'at the last gasp'

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care homes in England, said: “This extension of funding represents a lifeline for care providers.

“We are pleased that the Government has heeded the calls of Care England as without such funding the sector would be in jeopardy. Care staff across the length and breadth of England continue to implement enhanced infection control procedures to keep residents safe.”

Vic Rayner, chief executive of National Care Forum, which represents over 130 UK care providers, said: “At the last gasp, the government has announced an extension to the vital infection control fund and the funding for rapid testing, which had been due to lapse at the end of the month.

"The full grant conditions for this have not yet been published, so at this stage it is not possible for local authorities or care providers to plan what this will mean on the ground.

“Whilst welcome, it is impossible to not note the disparity in treatment of social care and the NHS. Out of the £7bn announced today, less than a twentieth of it is ring-fenced for social care, and that which has been committed is only for a three-month period.

"There is no mention of an extension to the important Workforce Capacity Fund brought in during January this year. In case the government had not noticed, the recruitment challenges facing the social care workforce will not disappear on the 1st April."

The health secretary also announced £594 million in hospital discharge funding, to enable patients to leave hospital as quickly and safely as possible, with the right community or at-home support to free up thousands of extra hospital beds.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA)'s Community Wellbeing Board, said: "It is good that the Government has accepted our joint call with those who work in and use social care to extend this essential funding, so that people can continue to visit their friends and relatives in care settings, safely.

“The extension of discharge funding is also important, providing much-needed certainty for health and care services in their vital ongoing work to support people out of hospital and to receive the right care at home."

Mr Hancock said 25 million people had been vaccinated to date (18 March), some 7,218 people in the UK were in hospital with COVID – down from a peak of almost 40,000 seven weeks ago and the rate at which people are dying has fallen by a third in the last week.

Mr Hancock also told MPs: “The pandemic has tested our NHS and our social care system like never before.

“That they have risen to meet the challenges of the past year is down to the incredible dedication and hard-work of colleagues. They have our thanks. We will deliver on our commitments. We will back our NHS and social care, as we build back better for everyone.”