Baroness Campbell of Surbiton

The commissioning of care and support services is a matter for local authorities, who are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their local populations. These authorities are used to manage entry and exit of care providers in the market and should have appropriate plans in place to minimise any disruption of services. They are in the best position to find a solution with the minimum possible disruption, while meeting people’s needs and choices. The Care Act 2014 places a temporary duty on local authorities to ensure that people continue to receive the services they need if their adult social care provider is no longer able to carry on delivering services.

We will provide further information in due course about how we will extend regular testing to other homecare workers, including non-registered Care Quality Commission-organisations and personal assistants.

We recognise there is a need for long-term reform in social care. The Government’s priority for adult social care is for everyone who relies on care to get the care they need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are committed to bringing forward a plan for social care to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect and to find long term solutions for one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. There are complex questions to address and it is important that we give these issues our full consideration in the light of current circumstances.

The recent NHS Long Term Plan highlighted integration of services as a key aim - making sure that everyone can receive high quality care that is coordinated around individual needs.

We understand how challenging this period has been for people who rely on ventilation and we are doing everything we can to support patients, led by clinical advice.

COVID-19 has caused a significant increase in demand for clinical consumables and has disrupted international supply chains, making it more difficult to source products, including a small number of products for ventilators.

The Department, working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, has put in place a range of measures to address these challenges, including making it easier for clinicians to report shortages and identifying opportunities to open up new supply options and using additional brands.

We have received assurances from the key supplier of filters for ventilators that supply chains are now restored and they have resumed processing orders and working through the backlog. Currently none of the National Health Service trusts who supply patients in the community with these consumables are reporting critically low stock levels. However, we will of course keep this under very close review and, if necessary, work with suppliers to prioritise deliveries to areas with the greatest clinical need.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are also working closely with clinicians, trusts and suppliers to prepare for winter and ensure there are sufficient stocks of these consumables to meet the need of all patients who require home ventilation as well as for any future spike in COVID-19 cases going forward.

We understand how challenging this period has been for people who rely on ventilation and we are doing everything we can to support patients, led by clinical advice.

COVID-19 has caused a significant increase in demand for clinical consumables and has disrupted international supply chains, making it more difficult to source products, including a small number of products for ventilators.

The Department, working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, has put in place a range of measures to address these challenges, including making it easier for clinicians to report shortages and identifying opportunities to open up new supply options and using additional brands.

We have received assurances from the key supplier of filters for ventilators that supply chains are now restored and they have resumed processing orders and working through the backlog. Currently none of the National Health Service trusts who supply patients in the community with these consumables are reporting critically low stock levels. However, we will of course keep this under very close review and, if necessary, work with suppliers to prioritise deliveries to areas with the greatest clinical need.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are also working closely with clinicians, trusts and suppliers to prepare for winter and ensure there are sufficient stocks of these consumables to meet the need of all patients who require home ventilation as well as for any future spike in COVID-19 cases going forward.