Chloe Smith welcomes Norfolk receiving an extra £12.3m to support local care homes through the coronavirus pandemic

Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North has welcomed that Norfolk has received a share of a £600 million Infection Control Fund, launched to reduce the transmission of coronavirus on care homes.

Norfolk has received £12.3m to support local care homes. There are currently 9,650 care home beds registered in the county.

The funding is being used to ensure that care homes can continue their efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus by helping them cover the costs of implementing measures to reduce transmission. This includes:

• Rolling out training on infection control for staff
• Reducing transmission by supporting providers to reduce workforce movements
• Stepping up NHS clinical support to care homes

The fund comes on top of £3.2 billion that has already been made available to local authorities to support key public services, including social care, since the start of the crisis. It forms part of a wider package of support the Government is making available to care homes, which includes ensuring all care homes have they support they need with staffing and accessing PPE, and providing a named clinical contact from the NHS for every single care home. The named contact will assist care homes with weekly check-ins to review patients while helping staff with the use of equipment and medication.

The Government has also rolled out a new wellbeing package for social care staff, including two new helplines, led by the Samaritans and Hospice UK, to support care staff with their mental health and welling.

Commenting, Chloe Smith MP said:

“Care staff are some of the many heroes of this pandemic – working tirelessly to support those in our community who need it the most. I do not underestimate how challenging a time this is for people living and working in care. This new funding will make a real different to local care homes in the North of Norwich. By putting in place stronger prevention, we can ensure that we continue to drive coronavirus out of our care homes, making them safer and better able to look after people who need it the most.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“This £600 million Infection Control Fund will help as we continue to reduce infections in care homes and save lives. From the very start of this outbreak, we have been working to protect our brilliant social care workforce and the most vulnerable in our society. Our package sets out clearly the extra steps local councils and care homes should be taking as we stamp out the spread of this virus.”