Guidance

Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for homecare workers

Sets out how homecare (domiciliary care) workers in England can collect, complete and register test kits for coronavirus (COVID-19).

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Applies to England

Documents

Details

NHS Test and Trace is making weekly COVID-19 testing available to all homecare workers in Care Quality Commission (CQC)-registered domiciliary care organisations.

This guidance is for homecare workers in England. It explains:

  • how testing works
  • what to do before testing
  • how to do the test
  • how to register your test kit online
  • how to return your test kit
  • what to do after testing

Guidance for homecare agencies

See also guidance for homecare agencies in England on how to order regular tests for their homecare (domiciliary care) staff.

Published 20 November 2020
Last updated 14 May 2021 + show all updates
  1. Added 8 translations of 'Testing for homecare workers (summary poster for print)'. Removed 'A testing service for homecare workers in England' (HTML and PDF versions), as these have been added to a new page: 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for homecare workers: information for agencies'.

  2. Updated 'A testing service for homecare workers in England (PDF version)', page 5, to reflect that personal assistants in England can access regular testing.

  3. Updated 'A testing service for homecare workers in England' to reflect the addition of PAs to testing. Removed all translations of the summary poster.

  4. Added guide to registering test kits for homecare workers.

  5. Updated 'A testing service for homecare workers in England', to add that directly employed or self-employed personal assistants who provide care that requires them to come within 2 metres of the person they support and who support adults over the age of 18 are eligible for regular testing. Replaced 'A testing service for homecare workers in England (PDF version)' with latest version of document.

  6. Added Hindi, Punjabi, Punjabi (Pakistan), Romanian, Slovak and Urdu, and updated Chinese and Polish summary posters.

  7. Added Chinese and Polish translations of summary poster.

  8. First published.