By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Extra funding is being offered to Nottinghamshire care and nursing homes to better control infections and disease outbreaks following the Covid pandemic.
Nottinghamshire County Council is updating community infection prevention and control (CIPC) measures alongside healthcare bosses in the county.
The measures have been in place for several years and helped the authority in managing outbreaks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, new policies and arrangements are being brought forward by the council after budgets in the sector increased following Covid.
The authority and the Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) say these measures are “fundamental” in reducing pressure on social care services during periods of significant infection.
This includes pandemics like Covid, outbreaks of diseases like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as well as typical winter flu outbreaks.
And it says they are becoming “increasingly important” amid a shift to more community-focused social care in peoples’ homes following the pandemic.
But current arrangements – which are now led by the ICB and healthcare leaders – have been in place for a decade and must be updated by September 30, 2023.
A review was held last year to look at long-term planning for infection control and to shape how bosses respond to outbreaks in future.
It will include a “defined level of outbreak management support” for residential care settings, including for adults with learning disabilities.
At present, the council’s financial backing has dropped from £200,000 to £59,000 between 2015 and this year as healthcare leaders took responsibility for the service.
But a new recurring sum of £210,958 will be provided to support new care providers and nursing and residential homes, lasting initially for four-and-a-half years.
Further reviews in the future will then set out how this support is financed after this period.
The sum will include £10,000 per year to manage an expanded health protection team within the authority, papers confirm.
The council says this will fund “tailored communications activity” with care providers on ongoing and new health threats for them to become aware of.
Jonathan Gribbin is the council’s director of public health.
In a report, he said: “There is a strong public health case for maintaining an effective, safe CIPC resource for residential nursing and care homes for older people in Nottinghamshire, as well as those for adults with a learning disability.
“In addition, a wider range of settings has been identified by the CIPC review as requiring ad hoc, temporary support in responding to an outbreak if urgently needed.
“The intention is to address gaps, ensuring a proactive surveillance and audit approach, combined with a rapid response to settings in need, including tailored training to foster sustainable staff knowledge and skills.”
The cash was approved during a delegated decision by Melanie Williams, the council’s corporate director for adult social care and health, on August 16.
