Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Amess and Helen Whately

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to protect care home residents during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

Sadly, covid is cruel to care home residents, and outbreaks are hard to prevent and control, especially when covid rates are high in the surrounding community. As we set out in our winter plan for adult social care, we have a regime of regular testing for staff and residents, we are supplying personal protective equipment to care homes, we have been offering training in infection prevention and control, backed up by Care Quality Commission inspections, and we are providing £1.1 billion to social care specifically to go towards the cost of infection prevention and control.

[Sir David Amess]

I know that my hon. Friend has already touched on this subject, but she will be aware that since April, many people have not been able to visit relatives and loved ones in care homes, so will she please tell the House again what is being done to improve testing and to roll out the flu vaccine to ensure that these visits can resume safely after the latest lockdown?

[Helen Whately]

My hon. Friend is a great advocate for the care sector—for those who receive care and for the workforce—in Southend West. Yesterday we launched a trial of visitor testing, and we plan to offer this to care homes across the country during December. On his question about flu vaccinations, this year we are carrying out the biggest ever flu vaccination programme. So far, the majority of care home residents have been vaccinated, but there is further to go for care staff, and I urge any careworker who has yet to have their flu jab to ensure that they get it over the next few weeks.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Amess and Helen Whately

Tuesday 1st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The Secretary of State has regular meetings with stakeholders about the future of mental health.

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to improve public health protection.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Amess and Helen Whately

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on delivering covid-19 testing kits to care homes.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

We are doing all we can to help care homes control and prevent covid outbreaks, and the majority of care homes have not had outbreaks. Testing is an important part of that. On 11 May, we launched a programme of testing all staff and residents in care homes, starting with older people and those with dementia, based on public health guidance. We met our target of offering tests to all these care homes by 6 June, which involved sending more than 1 million test kits to 9,000 care homes. We are now getting tests out to all the other Care Quality Commission-registered care homes for adults that ordered them on the testing portal.

[Sir David Amess]

Further to what my hon. Friend has said, will she confirm that there is a rolling programme to test for covid-19 in our care homes? Recently, a care home in my constituency had a whole-home test and found that someone was positive. When it then asked for another test for everyone, it was told by NHS England that it was not eligible, and that cannot be right.

[Helen Whately]

I will say two things on that. First, when a care home has a new outbreak, either for the first time or after having recovered from a previous outbreak, it should contact its local health protection team to arrange for initial testing of symptomatic residents, in order to confirm the outbreak. The local health protection team or the director of public health can then refer the care home to the national testing team so that it can be prioritised for whole-home testing.