Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed plans to have COVID-19 testing systems available in “every care home by Christmas” to allow people to visit their loved ones.
Mr Hancock made the announcement in an appearance live on BBC Breakfast this morning.
He insisted that it is “the goal” to enable visitors at care homes over the festive period, and that the government is “working closely with the social care sector to try to make that happen”.
It comes after the UK government announced a “regular testing” pilot, which launches at 20 care homes today.
Regular testing will be offered to one family member or friend per resident, which – when combined with other infection-control measures such as PPE – will support “meaningful visits”, and these will enable, where possible, indoor visits without a screen to take place while reducing the risk to care home residents, staff and visitors.
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Visitors will be offered either PCR tests which they can do at home, or the new 30-minute rapid lateral flow tests (LFTs), which can be administered in person at care homes before a visit.
According to the government, the pilot – which forms part of plans to roll out mass testing technology across the country – has been made possible thanks to a huge expansion in the country’s testing capacity, which currently stands at over 500,000 per day.
It will take place in local authorities with lower transmission rates and is today being launched in certain areas of Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall.
This is to ensure it can be done as safely as possible and care staff are being trained to ensure tests are administered safely and accurately, and it will also further develop “the evidence base for how testing with fast, reliable COVID-19 tests can be delivered at scale”.
If successful, care home testing will be rolled out in a phased way across the country.
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Speaking on the announcement of the testing pilot roll-out via a statement on the gov.uk website this past weekend, Mr Hancock added: “I know how heart-breaking restricting visits to care homes has been, not only for residents, many of whom will feel disoriented and confused by the situation, but also their loved ones who aren’t able to simply hug each other to support them in this difficult time.
“Thanks to the expanding testing capacity, we have in place we can now begin to trial a new way to allow safer visits to take place and prevent the spread of COVID-19 [but] I must stress this is only possible if the public takes the right actions now to bring the transmission rate under control while national restrictions are in place.
“By respecting social distancing and staying at home as much as possible we will help reunite families and friends with loved ones in care homes as quickly as possible.”
It is anticipated the LFTs will be used across the country to support rapid access, and if these faster tests work in this setting, the government we will “ring-fence supply to open up more chances for visiting”.
Exact details of the national roll-out will be published in due course and will be guided by the pilot.
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You can find more information on the pilot testing scheme here.
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For the latest information, guidance and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, please do refer to official sources at gov.uk/coronavirus.
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UK set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn
Emily Sergeant
The UK is being told to brace for a series of storms this autumn when the ‘unprecedented’ El Niño weather event arrives.
It’s already been a summer of extremes for the country, with multiple heatwaves over the past couple of months, but now it appears that autumn and winter are set to have some extremes of their own, as the Met Office is warning that this upcoming El Niño could be one of the most significant in recent memory.
El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5°C above the long-term average, which therefore impacts global rainfall patterns and average temperatures.
The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3°C in the coming months, according to the Met Office, making this year’s weather event have the potential to be ‘the largest since the 19th century’.
The UK is set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn / Credit: Johannes Plenio (via Unsplash)
El Niño will create a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa, and north eastern Australia, but over in north western Europe – including the UK – it means we are likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions.
The UK, and of course Greater Manchester, is absolutely no stranger to a storm around this time of year, but forecasters say this could be an entirely different beast.
“We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event,” warned Professor Adam Scaife, who is the Head of Long Range Forecasting at the Met Office.
“I have never seen an El Nino signal this intense in our forecasts.”
Professor Scaife concluded: “A typical El Nino leads to an equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature rise of between one to 2°C, with 2°C being a really big event. This implies that, if the forecast is accurate, and other forecast systems show similar extreme values, then 2026 will far exceed our recent experience of El Niño and its worldwide climate influences.’
Forecasters and officials, however, have warned that it could take months of sustained rainfall before rivers, reservoirs, and groundwaters are ‘completely replenished’ – which is when a drought can officially be declared as over.
It also warned drought conditions could persist into the new year as, despite El Niño, as current forecasts do not suggest this autumn will have the amount of rainfall needed to drive recovery.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Hundreds of staff to strike at four Greater Manchester hospitals next week
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week.
More than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – are walking out for three days next week after union UNISON says an offer to ‘resolve’ a dispute was withdrawn before discussions could take place.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 24, Wednesday 26, and Friday 28 August.
In particular, staff from all four sites will also gather in Salford on Wednesday (26 August) for a ‘unified’ day of protest.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
“Those at the top of NCA have shown a lack of leadership and made their disregard for their staff clear,” explained UNISON North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan.
“A deal was put on the table but taken away before we had chance to talk it over. We are ready to continue negotiations, but it’s obvious NCA has no intention of resolving this.
“This isn’t complicated. Staff are simply asking for what their contract says they’re entitled to. Nothing more.”
The Manc -
16th November 2020 
