RECENT NEWS

Covid-19 outbreaks were reported in around 5,900 care homes in England – 38% of the national total- between 9 March and 17 May, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

Derbyshire County Council has opened a care home ready to welcome its first residents to rest and recuperate after suffering from coronavirus.

Barclays has pledged to deliver digital skills through virtual training to at least 500 care homes across the UK this year as part of its Digital Eagles programme.

Procurement specialist 2buy2 has launched a scheme to help care homes secure PPE, cleaning and hygiene supplies amid the Covid pandemic.

Government agency Innovate UK has granted funding to Oxford healthtech outfit Cognitant Group to deliver a smartphone-based training scheme for care home and community care staff.

Birmingham healthcare provider Armighorn Capital has acquired a care home in Aintree, Liverpool, via a £2m funding package provided by Frontier Development Capital.

Harrogate outfit Angela Swift Developments has filed plans with Carlisle City Council to build a 71-bed care home on the site of a former home that closed last year.

Stephensons Solicitors is to hold the first of 15 care sector webinars on 11 June with a look at the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new Emergency Support Framework (ESF).

The number of deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes in England and Wales has risen to 13,454 – an increase of 721 on the previous week - according to the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has created a new care taskforce to oversee the government’s response to Covid-19.

Charities supporting Carers Week have called on the UK government to recognise the role of unpaid carers during the coronavirus crisis.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has claimed it has successfully hit a target to supply Covid-19 test kits to all English care homes by 6 June.

The Welsh government has extended its £500 one-off payment to all care workers, including kitchen and domestic staff.

Birmingham provider Global Care has acquired the Prospect House care home in Barnsley following the retirement of the directors.

Assistive care equipment manufacturer Accora will this month host free webinars on care home interior design led by HomeSmiths managing director Jacqui Smith.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has been threatened with legal action over his claim the government threw a “protective ring” around care homes by the daughter of a man who died from Covid-19, according to media reports.

National Care Force, a volunteering platform for social care set up during the Covid-19 pandemic, has received a £50,000 grant from the UK government’s Innovate UK fund.

Retirement living developer McCarthy & Stone has won consent to build a 52-apartment extra care facility at an existing care home site in Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

Not for profit provider of retirement housing Housing 21 has completed construction of the Fry Court extra care developer in the North Yorkshire village of Great Ayton.

More than 25,000 hospital patients were moved into care homes prior to guidance requiring patients to have a Covid-19 test before discharge.