How the FE sector is adapting to the coronavirus crisis

Care apprentices in the Midlands have been deployed to care homes to alleviate pressure on nurses during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Two hundred and fifty health and social care apprentices from private provider GB Training, some of whom are fresh out of school, have been armed with face masks, more facilities for handwashing and sterilising, and updated infection control training, to take on even greater responsibilities.

At The Chimes Residential care home in Stoke-on-Trent, elderly people have been isolated to their rooms and professional visitors are not being allowed past reception, so level 3 lead adult care worker apprentices have had to carry out tasks usually fulfilled by district nurses, including taking diabetics’ blood sugar levels.