Council chiefs pledge support for 'incredible' social care workers

Staff are continuing to care for the most vulnerable in the city throughout the coronavirus pandemic amid a national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

And it has led bosses at Wolverhampton to pledge to ensure they have the right support – both through the equipment and financially.

Around 140,000 pieces of PPE have already been handed out to front line workers to protect them from potentially catching the virus.

Councillor Linda Leach, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for adult services, said: "We are incredibly proud of everyone who is working in adult social care in our city.

"They have shown incredible commitment and compassion through what is a terrible time for our country, and on behalf of the council I want to thank every one of them for their fantastic work.

"As a council, we are doing our very best to support local care providers as much as we can – and are committed to continuing to work together throughout this national emergency.

"We are also doing all we can to ensure care homes, nursing homes, domiciliary care and other workers have the PPE they need.

"We have already provided over 45,000 masks, 55,000 pairs of gloves, more than 40,000 aprons and over 140 litres of hand sanitiser to providers that are having difficulty getting hold of this vital equipment because of the worldwide shortage."

Money paid to care homes and supported living schemes have increased by 10 per cent – on top of the annual increase earlier this year.

And providers are being paid for arranged home care visits which have been cancelled due to hospital days – as well as shortening the time it takes to pay them.

Councillor Leach added: "As well as this financial aid, we offer on call support for all providers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are sourcing agency staff to help providers who may have staff off or in self-isolation.

"We know how difficult the situation is in many care homes across the country right now, and we will continue to do all we can to support all our local providers.

"Once again, I thank them and their staff for their incredible efforts to support our city’s most vulnerable people.

"Wolverhampton Council is here to support all our providers, if you need us, get in touch and we will do what we can to help you."