Care Homes: Coronavirus

(asked on 21st September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Infection Prevention Control interventions in reducing covid-19 infection levels in care homes.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 4th December 2020

Our care homes guidance on infection prevention and control measures is informed by the emerging domestic and international evidence. We are working with Public Health England (PHE) to monitor the evidence, and ensure best practice is reviewed and can be applied.

Care homes have received practical support and training from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local public health system partners to improve infection prevention and control practice.

In line with the wider community, levels of infection in care homes fell significantly during the summer period. As levels of infection rise in the community, the Department, PHE and partners are working to support care homes in improving infection prevention and control practice and identify lessons learned from outbreaks.

A rise in notifications of COVID-19 cases in care homes in early September prompted a letter from the Department on 11 September to reinforce the importance of measures advocated in the care home support package and outlined in guidance around infection prevention control in care homes. The data shows that notifications have dropped since this period. The letter is available to view at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-infection-rises-letter-to-care-providers-from-director-of-adult-social-care-delivery

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