PIF member organisations have written a joint letter to the secretary of state for health and social care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Alzheimer's Society, Marie Curie and Independent Age, along with Age UK and Care England, called on the government to publish a comprehensive plan to support social care.

The letter was written on behalf of on 'the hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable people reliant on social care and the hundreds dying in care homes'.

It says the first step is an urgent need for testing and protective equipment in care homes.

The organisations call for a comprehensive care package including:

  • PPE equipment readily available to care homes.
  • Care home staff, and people being discharged from hospital into care homes, given priority testing, alongside critical NHS staff
  • Support to ensure contact can be maintained between care home residents and their families
  • Good palliative and end-of-life care for people dying in the care system
  • A daily update on coronavirus deaths in the care system

You can read the letter in full here.