Home care staff can still get free Covid tests and now only need to test twice a week

Home care staff in England will continue to get free Covid tests and only have to test twice a week, according to new government guidance.

Up till now, home care staff have been expected to take a lateral flow test every day before they start work, but under the new rules this has been reduced to twice a week.

Free Covid tests for the public ended on 1 April but all those living and working in ‘high risk settings’ such as care home, hospices and home care organisations will still receive free asymptomatic lateral flow testing, said the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

From 1 April, those working in adult social care will also continue to receive free personal protective equipment (PPE).

Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association, welcomed the news saying: “For the past six weeks, we have been urging the government to review the policy for testing, which is important to help protect people receiving home care.

“We welcome the government’s decision to reduce the requirement for lateral flow tests (LFTs) in social care to twice weekly, bringing it in line with most of the NHS. We are also pleased that the costs for the supply of tests are covered at a time when financial pressures on home care providers are at an all-time high.”

She added: “We believe this strikes the right balance between protecting people at higher risk and avoiding unintended consequences for the health and care system.”

However she voiced concern over the government failing to continue the Infection Control Funding which helps home care providers pay staff if they have to isolate.

The Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund was first introduced in May 2020 and has been extended a number of times. The last time it was extended, the government gave an extra £388 million of funding from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. No new extension has been announced.

Dr Townson said: “We are, however, deeply concerned that funding to cover costs of paying staff when isolating and the time and administrative costs of testing has been stopped.

“Lack of available infection control funding risks care workers being unable to afford to isolate when COVID-19 positive, particularly as cost of living is escalating. Many are already on low wages and paid by the minute because councils purchase care by the minute. People receiving care are typically in higher risk categories for COVID-19 and we must do all we can to minimise spread.”

The Homecare Association revealed it has heard from home care providers which currently have up to 30 per cent of their workforce off sick, and therefore are unable to provide care for older and disabled people in the community.

"Workers only become eligible for Statutory Sick Pay after three days, and infection control funding is essential to help providers pay staff as close to a full wage as possible while isolating. Most local authority fee rates for home care are inadequate to cover normal costs of home care delivery never mind additional costs due to COVID-19," added Dr Townson.

She also highlighted that despite the government saying we should learn to live with COVID-19 just like we do with flu, recent variants of COVID-19 are far more transmissible than flu and, unlike the latter, have been shown to damage the immune system and multiple organs, including the brain, with potentially serious long-term consequences for population health.

“We call on the government to make Infection Control Funding available urgently to help home care providers support their staff, who in turn care for the most at risk in society and to develop an evidence-based and effective approach to 'learning to live with COVID-19',” she said.

The Homecare Association is the UK’s membership body for home care providers, with over 2,340 members nationally.