News in brief

POLICY & LEGISLATION

The Liberal Democrats called for a Carers’ Minimum Wage set at £2 above the National Minimum Wage. The move would mean carers earning a minimum of £12.42 an hour from this April.

MPs backed a bill that would guarantee minimum service levels during strike action. The bill, which was approved by MPs by 315 votes to 246, would mean some workers would be required to work during industrial action and would face the sack if they did not comply.

financial health of the learning disability sector, as well as exploring other relevant issues and challenges.

Funding

A coalition of more than 50 organisations called on the government to protect the legal right of people in vulnerable situations to be supported by their carers, friends and families. The new right would give anyone who needs care access to a care supporter – a relative or friend who can help them wherever they need it, such as in hospitals, care homes or GP surgeries.

National learning disabilities care provider, Hft, will launch its annual Sector Pulse Check report at this year’s Care England Conference. Since 2016, Hft’s Sector Pulse Check report has provided an annual snapshot of the

Norfolk County Council approved a £30 million rise in care fees. The 9% increase, which comes into effect in April, is the council’s highest ever annual increase in fees.

This year’s £60 billion local government finance settlement for local services included access to a £2 billion social care grant. The settlement for the 2023/24 financial year represented a £5.1 billion (9.4%) increase on last year.

Regulation

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman issued a guide to help care providers on good record-keeping. The new guide focuses on a number of case studies highlighting the common issues the Ombudsman sees, and also includes good practice tips to help providers avoid the problems from occurring in their own settings.

Five people suspected of recruiting and exploiting Indian students working in care homes in North Wales were handed Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders. The defendants were originally from the state of Kerala in India and have links to care homes in Abergele, Pwllheli, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay, either by working there themselves or having a direct family link to someone who works in them.

Hospital Discharge

Council leaders urged the government to engage fully with local government and its partners on its £200 million hospital discharge programme. In a letter to secretary of state for health and social care, Steve Barclay, the leaders of Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and Solace laid out conditions for making the discharge of hospital patients to care homes a success.

Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of National Care Association and chairman of The Care Provider Alliance called on care homes to “hold firm” against pressures to take Covid-positive hospital discharges.

Ahmed told Caring Times it was “deeply disturbing” that lessons from the pandemic had not been learnt and that NHS colleagues were putting providers under pressure to take unsafe discharges.

Just over half of 300 interim care home beds funded by the Scottish government to ease hospital pressures have been taken up by health boards, it was revealed. The Scottish government said 162 people had so far entered the interim care facilities it recently funded.

A health board in South Wales launched an investigation into allegations that safeguarding procedures were bypassed when discharging two patients to a local care home. The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which runs Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, launched the probe following complaints from Aria care home which is run by Arcadia Care Homes.

Provider News

Four staff members were arrested following an incident at a Dorset care home. The incident took place at Signature House in Dorchester, which is operated by Amica Care Trust, on 8 January.

Team members from Oakland Care’s eight care homes have joined a range of volunteer tree planting events in Essex. Oakland Care has committed to planting 1,000 trees a year as part of its commitment to sustainability and combating climate change.

Orchard Care Homes, a care provider across the north of England, launched a new initiative which aims to shift attitudes towards dementia care across the UK. The ‘Dementia Promise’ is part of Orchard Care Homes’ commitment to challenge the negativity and inequalities often experienced by people living with dementia in care homes. platform providing a range of services from clinical best practice to activitybased programmes. The organisation plans to roll the system across other care sectors internationally.

HC-One enhanced its dementia strategy to meet the rising demand for care. The strategy has been developed by HC-One’s specialist dementia care team led by director of dementia Professor Graham Stokes, a leading thinker and academic authority in dementia care in the UK.

WELLBEING/EVENTS

The government launched a competition for businesses to bid for a share of £1 million to stimulate innovation in occupational health. Small and medium enterprises are being invited to bid for up to £100,000 to back their projects from 19 May.

Bupa Care Homes was fined £400,000 after an eight-year-old girl suffered major injuries from a falling tree. The care home provider pleaded guilty at West Hampshire Magistrates Court to failing to provide a system to manage trees at Oak Lodge Care Home in Bitterne, Southampton following the incident on 8 July 2021.

Supplier News

Person Centred Software, provider of a digital care planning system, acquired Oomph Wellness, a wellbeing business for older adults. Following the acquisition, more than 5,000 care homes will have access to a multi-functional digital

Entries opened for Championing Social Care’s Care Sector’s Got Talent 2023 show. All talented people, whether in the field of singing, dancing, comedy, magic or music, are urged to apply for this year’s show to share their talents with everyone by visiting the Championing Social Care website.