Sefton Council is supporting drive-thru clinics launched for people at risk of heart attack and stroke. Working with its NHS partners, Sefton Council staff have been on hand to ensure the drive-thru anticoagulation clinics for people on blood thinning medication run smoothly. Council staff have been providing marshalling and have opened up council buildings for the NHS teams to use for the events, which have … Continue reading Sefton Council supporting drive-thru events for heart attack and stroke-risk patients

Councils will be able to move around government funding for free childcare entitlements in exceptional circumstances, to make sure sufficient childcare places are available for vulnerable children and those of critical workers. The Government has confirmed that councils will temporarily be able to use the funding they receive for the free entitlements for two, three and four-year-olds differently, redistributing it where absolutely necessary for the … Continue reading Councils given flexibility with free childcare funding

Furloughed workers planning to take paid parental or adoption leave will be entitled to pay based on their usual earnings rather than a furloughed pay rate, the government announced today (24 April). Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay, as well as the other forms of Parental or Adoption Pay, are currently calculated through someone’s average earnings over an 8-week assessment period. For Maternity Allowance, entitlement and … Continue reading Furloughed workers to receive full parental leave entitlement

People who may be particularly vulnerable or isolated during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, including new parents, the homeless, unpaid carers, young people and cancer patients, could soon benefit from a range of innovative digital solutions selected as part of the TechForce19 challenge. Today, NHSX, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have announced 18 … Continue reading Digital innovations tested to support vulnerable people during COVID-19 outbreak

It has never been more important than now for people to stop smoking. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Health England (PHE) are citing smokers to be likely to be more vulnerable to COVID 19 for multiple reasons including: the act of smoking means that fingers are in contact with the lips which increases the risk of transmitting the disease from hand to mouth … Continue reading Support to stop smoking