A CHARITY is celebrating after an announcement that care homes will be insured to continue caring for Covid-19 patients.

Revitalise, based in Netley, is one of only 129 designated settings approved to care for Covid-19 patients in the UK.

The charity have recently been unable to secure ongoing insurance cover for this service from any UK insurer, despite the directive for care homes to be requisitioned as facilities to support the NHS.

Now, following a recent Revitalise campaign, the government has agreed to provide ‘time-limited’ insurance for this service.

Had a solution not been found, the charity, along with many other Designated Settings across the UK, would have had to stop accepting hospital discharges, adding to the already overwhelming pressures faced by the NHS.

In a statement by Nadhim Zahawi, Covid-19 vaccine deployment minister, the Treasury agreed to fund “time-limited” insurance, saying “Government will introduce a targeted and time-limited indemnity offer to fill gaps in commercial cover."

Mr Zahawi said that the cover will last for around eight weeks, until mid-March.

Revitalise CEO Jan Tregelles said: "In this hour of need for the NHS - it is crucial that care providers like Revitalise are able to step up and ease the strain of packed hospitals and we are so pleased that the Government has recognised that importance.”