Latest News

As a founding member of the Workhome Project, the Housing LIN is delighted to collaborate with the project to help find out more about you and your organisation’s experience of home-based work during Covid-19 for staff and residents. Please take a few moments to complete this important sector survey. The deadline is Friday, 28 August 2020 at 4pm.

The DHSC has published the NHS People Plan, which explains what NHS staff can expect from their leaders and from each other. The plan sets out actions to support transformation across the whole NHS. It largely focuses on staffing and how to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, as well as action to grow a workforce, train people, and work together differently within the NHS, as well as social care, to deliver patient care.

This Housing LIN guest blog considers the value of housing the homeless against the backdrop of Covid-19 and health inequalities.

The findings of the research undertaken by Appello,a leading digital, technology-enabled care service (TECS) provider, supported by the Housing LIN, paints a promising picture for the future of digital care technologies with 74% of housing providers claiming that their requirements for wellbeing technology have changed as a result of the pandemic.

Hot off the press: HLINks – our essential sector news, including updates on COVID-19, two great new Housing LIN blogs, and so much more.

Yesterday, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee has published its critical report on the government’s handling of Covid-19. It was particularly critical of the policy of discharging patients from hospital into care homes with no testing and the lack of PPE for frontline workers. However, it praised the heroic efforts of NHS and social care staff in keeping people safe. The report includes recommendations for government on preparing for a second peak of the virus and calls on government to develop a “3-point plan” by September covering health, the economy and procurement of medical supplies and equipment.

Today's guest Housing LIN's blog is by Central & Cecil's Residents Engagement Manager, Chris Barber, who showcases a variety of inspiring creative digital activities that have significantly helped their older residents stay engaged, socially distanced but connected during the pandemic.

This new research carried out by Ipsos MORI and the Centre for Ageing Better shines a light on the impact lockdown has had on those aged 50-70, revealing dramatic changes to people’s lives and plans for the future. The wide-ranging report includes a section on home and community and highlights on housing, especially in relation to the impact on renters, and the growing use of digital technology.

This report reviews how providers have been utilising digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the benefits and barriers providers in England have been experiencing when it comes to using technology. While not specifically housing related, there are some key findings that care providers will find very interesting. It also recommends that the NHS broadens its digital support and engagement to include homecare, extra care and supported living providers to realise benefits for vulnerable people living in the community.

As highlighted in this new Housing LIN blog by Hannah Rumble et al, during lockdown the balcony has become ‘the new front door’. Drawing on lessons of a project with the ExtraCare Charitable Trust and Cruse Bereavement Care, it describes how balconies have emerged as being key safe, social distancing, yet communal, spaces in extra care settings during lockdown.