C-19 Vac: Care Home vaccination incentive & workforce support
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NHS England has announced a financial incentive to prioritise the COVID-19 vaccination of care home residents in both older adult care homes and non-older adult care homes. The incentive is open to all commissioned providers including commissioned community pharmacy contractors.
In a system letter (18th August 2022), and in line with the final JCVI guidance, service providers have been asked to prioritise the vaccination of care homes residents and housebound people, given the clinical risk that COVID-19 poses to them. The incentive will run until 23rd October 2022 and rewards providers for each completed care home based on home size. Contractors will be able to claim:
£150 for each small care home (1-10 beds)
£275 for each medium care home (11-49 beds)
£400 for each large care home (50-149 beds)
£525 for each very large care home (150-250 beds)
The Enhanced service specification will be updated shortly.
Contractors will be able to vaccinate eligible staff in care homes at the same time as residents, although staff are not included in this scheme. Contractors are also encouraged to co-administer with the flu vaccine where clinically and operationally possible.
Where contractors cannot provide vaccinations to care homes before 23rd October 2022, they will still be eligible to claim the £10.06 Item of Service fee beyond this date, as per the terms of the Enhanced service specifications.
The Enhanced service specification has a £10 financial supplement available for the vaccination of housebound patients. This cannot be claimed for vaccinations given in care homes.
Read the guidance (FutureNHS login required)
Workforce support offer
Workforce offers remain available to support the vaccination of care homes, in particular through St John Ambulance (SJA) volunteer vaccinators. NHS England encourages providers to put in requests through the workforce request form in order to use this additional resource (5 days’ notice is required).
If sites experience any issues with drawing down volunteers, they can escalate these to NHS-Vaccinations@sja.org.uk. There is a dedicated team in place at SJA to help with requests.
