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I spoke to Sky News on Wednesday about Labour’s plans for social care, and the comments made at Prime Minister’s Questions on social care.
While the Government’s new social care winter plan includes some welcome announcements, the real test of this plan is whether the Government delivers on weekly testing of all care staff.
Ensuring families can visit their loved ones is also critical, as without this care home residents can end up fading fast.
Watch my comments on Sky News.
This month’s column focuses on the fantastic work carried out by food banks in Leicester. I visited Christ the King Food Bank and Woodgate Community Food on National Food Bank Day, and spoke to them about the issues they’ve seen during lockdown.
The number of people claiming Universal Credit has doubled since lockdown began, and one in three employees in Leicester has been put on furlough. I am worried about what will happen as winter approaches and when the Government’s furlough scheme ends.
No one should have to rely on a food bank, and the Government need to do more to support families who count on them.
You can read coverage of Labour’s winter plan for social care, which Liz wrote to Matt Hancock about on Monday 14 September, as follows:
Leicester Mercury – Calls for winter plans to protect care homes amid signs of rising coronavirus cases
The Times – Care home bosses claim government is failing on coronavirus tests
The Guardian – UK care home residents facing fresh restrictions as Covid infections rise
I spoke to LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty this afternoon about opening up care homes to family visits.
We need to get family visits back up and running to ensure that care home residents are not just kept alive, but are given something to live for.
