Coronavirus (COVID-19): providing home care
Information for those providing personal care to people living in their own home during the coronavirus outbreak.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The document brings together guidance for social care staff, registered providers, local authorities and commissioners who support and deliver care to people in their own homes in England.
It covers:
- personal protective equipment
- vaccinations
- hospital discharge and testing
- government support for social care
- information collection and governance
Updates to this page
Last updated 15 March 2022 + show all updates
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Easy read version updated to reflect changes in the self-isolation rules.
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Updated to reflect new government guidance – changes to self-isolation regulations.
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Added the document: 'Coronavirus (COVID-19): provision of home care (easy-read)'. Removed the document 'Working with people in their own homes' as the guidance was outdated.
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Updated self-isolation and international travel advice to reflect the lifting of Plan B. Added information on the new funding added to the Omicron Support Fund.
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Updated to reflect the latest clinical advice from UKHSA. Refer to the summary table in the guidance for a full breakdown of all the guidance updates.
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Updated to add a call-out about the new COVID-19 variant of concern.
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Updated banner message to include change in national restrictions from 12 April 2021. Removed reference to the CARE Workforce app and 'this winter'. Updated to reflect that clinically extremely vulnerable people are no longer required to shield.
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Updated banner message to include change in lockdown rules from 29 March 2021.
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Updated 'Coronavirus (COVID-19): provision of home care' to reflect that free COVID-19 PPE provision for health and social workers has been extended to March 2022.
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Updated 'Coronavirus (COVID-19): provision of home care' to add guidance on vaccinations and the NHS capacity tracker; and to amend the definition of 'home care'.
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Added a new document: 'Working with people in their own homes this winter'.
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Updated 'Coronavirus (COVID-19): provision of home care' to reflect the extension of free PPE until the end of June 2021.
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Updated to reflect guidance on shielding: clinically extremely vulnerable people should now shield at home.
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Updated to reflect current policy for how providers should access PPE.
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Updated to reflect that the 14-day isolation period is now 10 days.
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Updated to include relevant links to the guidance on the local restriction tier system in place in England since 2 December.
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Added note that this guidance will be updated soon and directed users to guidance updated ahead of the 5 November national lockdown.
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Added a new section on how home care providers can support the NHS Test and Trace service. Updated links to hospital discharge service guidance.
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Updated 'shielding and care groups’ section (now titled 'Clinically extremely vulnerable people and care groups') and ‘annexes A and B’ to reflect wider changes to shielding advice. Updated ‘social care recruitment’ section to include further details about the new online recruitment platform for social care.
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Updated 'hospital discharge and testing' section to state "anyone experiencing coronavirus symptoms can now be tested, which includes individuals receiving home care. This can be accessed through the digital portal or by calling 119 to book testing".
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First published.