Care Home News
Care minister Helen Whately defends her response to Covid deaths in care homes
30 Mar 2021
Care minister Helen Whately has defended her response to Covid deaths in care homes during the pandemic in an exclusive interview and has admitted the government is now "looking into" why some care homes are still not allowing indoor.....
Care home manager who helped Hillsborough victims says Covid-19 is 'the toughest thing I've ever had to deal with'
30 Mar 2021
A Surbiton care home manager who helped casualties during the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 speaks in a frank first-hand account about the pandemic in 2020 and says: “I don’t think I’ve ever been as stressed as I was last spring.”.....
Boris Johnson says social care will get a 10 year plan
30 Mar 2021
Prime minister Boris Johnson has said the social care sector will get a 10-year plan, like the NHS has, to close the “gulf” between the NHS and social care. Boris Johnson confirmed he would deliver a 10 year.....
Care home workers give residents a makeover with a pop-up salon
29 Mar 2021
A Midlothian care home has created a beauty salon for residents throughout lockdown, as its manager says "when you look nice you feel nice". With hairdressers closed and residents unable to visit nail salons,.....
Hubble Project 'demystifies technology' for care providers
29 Mar 2021
The National Care Forum (NCF), NHS Digital and Digital Social Care are encouraging all care providers to embrace digital technology by publishing a series of films, advice and guides which demystify it. The.....
Care home residents see infection rate fall by 62% five weeks after receiving Covid vaccine
29 Mar 2021
Coronavirus infections among care home residents fell by 62 per cent, five weeks after they received their first vaccine dose, according to initial results from the Vivaldi study. The study is a collaboration.....
91-year-old resident at care home that hatched ducklings says 'they make me smile a lot'
25 Mar 2021
Residents at care homes run by CHD Living have been watching ducklings and chicks hatch in egg incubators, with one resident saying “they make me smile a lot”. The ethically sourced, high-welfare hatching.....
Care England joins new centre to research adult social care
24 Mar 2021
Care England along with the University of Birmingham is helping to develop a pioneering new centre to innovate, improve, promote and maintain people’s independence and wellbeing in adult social care. The.....
12,000 care home residents are needed to test new Covid treatment
24 Mar 2021
The government is funding two new clinical trials to stop the transmission of COVID-19 and wants to test treatments on residents in 400 care homes as well as vulnerable people with weakened immune systems. The.....
Government is looking at plans to make Covid vaccine mandatory for care home staff
23 Mar 2021
The government has confirmed it is considering making it compulsory for care home staff to have the Covid vaccine. A number of care providers including Barchester, Care UK and Advinia Healthcare have already.....
Care workers are not entitled to minimum wage for sleep-in shifts, rules Supreme Court
19 Mar 2021
The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Mencap and dismissed an appeal that would have forced care providers to pay the national minimum wage to care workers doing sleep-in shifts. Clare Tomlinson-Blake,.....
A year on: Families remember those who died of Covid in Britain's care homes
19 Mar 2021
Families of those who died in care homes in the last year remembered the lives lost to Covid-19 by sharing their stories ahead of the National Day of Reflection. Over 40,000 care home residents in England.....
Matt Hancock announces further £341m for care sector's Covid infection control and testing costs
18 Mar 2021
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.....
'Lockdown proof' group exercises lift the moods of care home residents
18 Mar 2021
The adoption of ‘lockdown proof’ exercises is lifting the mood and mobility of young and old people living in care homes in and around Bradford. A rise in the mental as well as physical strength of care.....
CQC uncovers 'serious concerns' of human rights breaches linked to blanket do not resuscitate orders
18 Mar 2021
The Care Quality Commission has discovered there was a significant rise in 'do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation' (DNACPR) decisions in care homes during the pandemic and has 'serious concerns' about breaches of human rights.....
Universities in England to get £15m to spend on simulated training for nurses
18 Mar 2021
The government has announced it is giving universities in England £15m to spend on expanding their simulated learning for nurses, as well as £10m for a new nationally recognised critical care qualification......
Care workers and NHS staff in Wales to receive £735 each in recognition of their work during the pandemic
17 Mar 2021
The Welsh Government has announced it is to give a one-off payment of £735 to NHS and social care staff to recognise their contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. After tax and national insurance deductions,.....
Actress Julie Walters says public won't let government's dementia vow be 'cast aside'
17 Mar 2021
Actress Julie Walters, whose grandmother died with vascular dementia, says Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot “cast aside” his 2019 election pledge to double funding for dementia research and is backing a petition urging him to.....
Nurse becomes head of memory care at Sunrise Senior Living and Gracewell Healthcare
17 Mar 2021
Michael Hurt, who spent over 20 years as a nurse and has taken on a new role as head of memory care at care home groups, Sunrise Senior Living and Gracewell Healthcare, says 'there is always room for improvement'. Mr.....
Ombudsman orders council to refund overpayments in care costs
17 Mar 2021
Lincolnshire County Council has been ordered to refund the care costs of people who had been charged too much for short-term residential care. The local authority had been charging a fixed fee for respite.....
Forget claps, council's low pay for Covid care heroes is a 'slap in the face'
17 Mar 2021
A council has been accused of adding “insult to injury” by paying its own staff up to £2,200 more a year than care workers doing exactly the same job in privately-run care homes. Care Forum Wales, which represents.....
Care home administrator jailed for stealing £130,000 from workplace and resident
16 Mar 2021
A care home administrator who stole £130,000 from the care home she worked for, including £7,100 from an 81-year-old resident, has been jailed for two years. Tammy Foster paid herself significantly higher.....
Over 100 Mother's Day video messages arrive for care home group's residents
15 Mar 2021
Families have sent more than 100 Mother’s Day video greetings to mums in care homes across Kent, Essex and Surrey operated by the Nellsar Care Homes group. Care home residents were shocked to suddenly see.....
Care homes left in 'impossible situation' of banning Mother's Day visits due to Covid cases
15 Mar 2021
Some care homes have been unable to conduct Mother’s Day visits because of positive cases of Covid-19, much to the frustration of families, with care homes in the “impossible situation” of being “damned if they do and damned if they.....
Cinnamon Luxury Care secures planning permission for new 80-bed care home in Sheffield
12 Mar 2021
Senior living developer Charterpoint has completed a deal to sell its care home development site in south Sheffield, to care operator Cinnamon Luxury Care. Sheffield City Council approved the joint application.....
Luxury care home with own farmers' market, cinema and gastropub to open in Cheshire
12 Mar 2021
A luxury 78-bed care home in Congleton with its own authentic gastropub, farmers' market and cinema, is set to open its doors in early June. Priesty Fields, a purpose-built residential care home, close to.....
Care leaders call on government to extend Covid relief funding
11 Mar 2021
Care leaders from Care England, National Care Forum (NCF) and the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) have called on the government to extend its Covid relief funding due to expire at the end of this month. The.....
Families, who say it has been 'absolute hell', can finally hold hands with care home residents
11 Mar 2021
Care home residents in England have enjoyed heartwarming reunions and have described how "amazing" it has been to hold hands with their loved ones for the first time in a year. On 23 March 2020, the UK went into national lockdown.....
Rise in absent care staff sparks more spending on mental health first aiders
10 Mar 2021
Care providers supporting people with learning disabilities have reported a rise in staff absenteeism for mental health reasons since the beginning of the pandemic, resulting in them spending more money on mental health first aiders. According.....
CQC finds 27% people with learning difficulties and autism more likely to accept lower standard of care
10 Mar 2021
Just over a quarter of people with a learning disability and autism are more likely to accept health and social care providers offering a lower standard of care as a result of coronavirus, according to research by the Care Quality.....