Care home staff gain free access to Boots online resource

Pharmacist Mina Hunjan demonstrates the Boots’ online Care Learning platform, which has been made free to access for nurses and carers. Photo: Fabio De Paola/PA Wire | PA

The high street pharmacist is offering access to the Boots Care Learning resource, which is reputedly one of the best care training programmes and contains more than 70 modules, for all residential and care home staff.

The content includes up to date information on coronavirus, training in medication management and resources to assist in caring for people with dementia and diabetes.

Vic Rayner is the director of the National Care Forum which represents non-profit care providers.

He said: “Care homes are at the frontline of the Covid-19 crisis and we have the most incredible workforce across social care, supporting our most vulnerable citizens in these very challenging times.

“The care sector is also working hard to attract new workers and volunteers to join the frontline of care. This initiative from Boots will provide invaluable support for care homes and their staff’s confidence and expertise in these specialist healthcare topics as they look after their residents and patients, and will help to upskill new recruits as they join our care workforce.”

Boots is also sending products to care home staff. The company’s head of care services Alex Roberts said: “Many care home residents have very serious and complex health conditions, which our pharmacists and pharmacy teams have valuable expertise in.

“So during these unprecedented times, we feel that it’s absolutely right to make this knowledge available to all care homes across the UK in addition to the ones we partner with. This will help the training of hundreds of new starters who are joining the care homes sector every day.

“Our Care Services team have been caring for the most vulnerable patients in our communities for over 30 years and throughout Covid-19, we continue to do just that – side by side with our colleagues in the social care sector, as we are with the NHS.”

Boots and the NCF hope that their initiative will contribute towards easing pressure on care homes and accelerate the training of new staff.