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Welcome to the third edition of your practice focused bulletin.
These bulletins aim to keep you up to date with practice developments to manage the Covid-19 pandemic and to help you understand how new guidance and legislation is impacting on your work.
Our first item is a short introduction to the new Coronavirus Act including a presentation around the implications of the Coronavirus Act which we hope will be helpful to you.
All the information provided in these bulletins is available on the Covid-19 ACH Staff Guidance reSource Page where the below previous Bulletins are also available.
Devon County Council is not currently implementing the Easements to the Care Act that are provided as an option for Local Authorities within the Coronavirus Act. This means that all the following statutory duties continue to apply to our work;
- The Care Act
- Safeguarding
- The Mental Capacity Act
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
We would only change what we already do if our staff numbers and care and support resources were so low due to sickness or other reasons that we would have no choice but to ‘ease’ what we can do for people. This decision would be taken by our Director of Care & Health and our Principal Social Worker. We are not currently at this stage so right now; except for hospital discharge, we continue to do what we have always been doing. If/when anything changes, we will let you know.
You should be using the Business Continuity Plan and Prioritisation Tools, until guided to do otherwise by their managers. We are currently at Business Continuity Plan Level A.
Should the Council decide to move to providing adult social care services based on the Care Act Easements allowed by the Coronavirus Act they must continue to ensure that they comply with the threshold of a person's human rights. If this happens it will be important for practitioners to have a working understanding of the Human Rights Act (HRA). DCC's threshold for providing adult care services could continue to be based on our Continuity Plan and Prioritisations Tools using a level that is consistent with complying with peoples human rights under the HRA.
The One Page Guide to the Coronavirus Act and Care Act includes links to the Coronavirus Act Guidance on Care Act Easements for Local Authorities.
A short presentation has now also been provided summarising the Implications of the Coronavirus Act on duties under the Care Act . The presentation includes and introduction to the principles of the Human Rights Act..
The updated DCC Adult Social Care Service User and Carer Prioritisation Tool clarifies the 5 levels of prioritisation and the 5 different colours used to highlight each prioritisation level.
Two new pieces of recording guidance have been published in the Practice section of the Covid-19 Staff Guidance reSource page;
New hospital discharge arrangements have been published on the ACH Covid-19 reSource page. The presentation is based on new national Government guidance and includes links to the national guidance.
New Devon Hospital Discharge Payments Guidance under Covid-19 arrangements,
and a Health Service Purchase of Care Home and Home Care Agreement Form
have also been published. These are primarily for use by the Arranging Support Teams.
DCC has committed to supporting providers by purchasing the same number of
commissioned beds and services at the rates the providers would have been
invoicing us for. Voids, (or spaces) will be paid at the rate that was being paid for the service prior to it becoming available. See New Covid-19 Payments Guidance (non hospital discharge) for details.
Millbrook are now running an 8am – 8pm service, 7 days a week.
All orders on a Sunday for SAME DAY delivery need to be phoned through rather than inputted to Millflow. Call 0330 124 4491
Please direct all non-urgent queries to devoncontactus@millbrookhealthcare.co.uk at this busy time.
See DILIS Covid-19 Fact Sheet
Please see the latest PPE guide for staff, produced by DCC on 16.4.20. It is based on national guidance accurate as of 16th April 2020. It updates the staff guidance which was issued previously on 9.4.20.
This new guide was developed in partnership with all South West Local Authorities to assist with interpreting the national guidance to determine whether and what type of PPE is required for different job roles within local authority, education, community and social care settings. It is a live document and may need to be updated following further changes to national guidance.
The National PPE guidance published on 10th and 12th of April clarified that we are in a period of sustained community transmission within the UK and that Table 4 of the national guidance therefore applies.
There had been some confusion regarding implementation of Table 4 for local authority and community settings and this has been raised nationally. However, the guidance for staff has now been updated to reflect the current position which outlines additional PPE for those providing direct patient/resident care to individuals (within 2 metres) who are not currently possible or confirmed cases. This change has been made in order to protect social care service users and patients from catching COVID-19 from asymptomatic care staff.
With greater demand for PPE and PPE being in short supply, it is important that PPE is used in line with the guidance, particularly with regards to sessional use.
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists has provided a COVID-19 resource page that may be useful to a range of practitioners. It includes a link to Digital Social Care information relevant to managing Covid-19, as we continue to look for more creative ways to meet our populations needs.
Health and Care Professions Council – COVID-19 advice page has information for current and returning registrants, and students.
Health Education England has also published helpful information and links to COVID-19 related guidance. Although this document has many links saying NHS some of these may be relevant for you in your role, in working in the community, and in working in partnership with health colleagues at this time.
Report all absences linked to Covid-19 in iTrent; this should happen immediately when a person is absent.
As a Council we need to understand the impact on our workforce and this information will be taken from iTrent. It will also help to identify staff who should be tested for Covid-19.
If you are not sure how to report the absence please refer to the quick guide. There are new COVID-19 categories in sickness absence reporting and paid special leave.
The guidance on certifying for COVID-19 sickness is that the employee should get an ‘isolation note’ by visiting the following NHS 111 online page This is in place of the normal requirement to provide a ‘fit note’ after 7 days of sickness absence. Further HR guidance can be found on inside Devon.
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