We can’t use £600m fund to curb virus, says care sector

CARE home managers have complained a £600million Treasury fund to help them combat coronavirus is “useless” as it does not cover measures taken and PPE bought before the peak of the virus.

The £600million Infection Control Fund, announced by the Chancellor last month, was released so care homes could take additional steps to reduce the spread of infection.

But managers say they can only claim for equipment and measures paid for since the fund was announced – two months after the peak of Covid-19.

“Anything spent before … is inadmissible, leaving an already struggling sector out of pocket to cover mounting costs involved in dealing with coronavirus and caring for the vulnerable elderly,” one manager in the north of England told The Daily Telegraph.

“I spent almost £8,000 putting people up in hotels. At the same time, the cost of PPE has gone up.”

The care home manager added that although a list of activities for which the grant can be used is provided, the conditions state that these funds cannot be used for any activity undertaken before the date of the announcement of the grant. “One might even suggest the approach taken by the Government here is to actively discourage the early implementation of life-saving measures by care homes,” the manager said.

“It might also be opined that this fund was merely ‘dangled’ in front of the eyes of the media to give the impression of purposeful activity whilst, cynically, ensuring the funds would be returned later when the ‘media spotlight’ had long since … moved on.”

Care home deaths from coronavirus rose to a total of 13,454 up to May 29, the latest figures show.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We have been working flat out to support the social care sector – drawing on all the levers Government has to help providers look after the people in their care.

“The Infection Control Fund is intended to support the delivery of the care home support package which sets out the next steps local councils and care homes should be taking to stamp out the spread of Covid-19.

“Over £3.2billion has been provided to councils so they can respond to the immediate pressures … including supporting social care. We also provided £1.3 billion, via the NHS, to support hospital discharge, which covers follow-on costs for adults in social care.”