Welcome to our latest newsletter
Welcome to another edition of the weekly newsletter for adult social care providers, issued on behalf of Devon County Council's Director of Adult Social Care Services and Director of Public Health and NHS Devon’s Chief Nursing Officer.
National guidance is being updated at a fast pace as we came out of lockdown and into the tier system this week. We have done our best to give you the key messages in this fast-changing environment and recommend that you follow the links we have added to this newsletter and the ones we maintain on our Provider Engagement Network website.
Visiting arrangements in care homes
The national guidance which sets out how care homes can support families and visitors to visit residents has now been updated and the guidance above supersedes all previous guidance.
The guidance balances risks and benefits as they apply to residents, families, staff and providers, based on the intention that visits should be supported wherever they can happen safely.
Care homes are empowered to determine their own visiting policies within the framework of national and local advice, which must be tailored for individual residents.
The main national messages from the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England are that:
Visits to residents in care homes should be supported wherever they can happen safely.
- The registered manager of each care home is responsible for setting the visiting policy and for considering the individual needs of each resident.
- Visits need to be arranged in advance and visitors are asked to be mindful of pressures on care homes; providers will need to communicate with them their policy and protocols clearly.
- Visitors should avoid close/prolonged contact with other residents/staff.
- There is a requirement to facilitate visits in exceptional circumstances, such as end of life.
- Visits are prohibited in settings where there is an ‘active outbreak’, except at end of life.
- The guidance allows indoor visits by visitors who’ve been tested and wear PPE; outdoor and screened visits for others including in visiting pods.
- The guidance allows physical contact (including personal care provision, holding hands, hugging) where the visitor has tested negative, is wearing PPE and follows other IPC guidance, but within the care home’s own policy.
- The CQC will include adherence to infection control measures for visitors as part of their infection prevention control inspections.
Regarding testing, the national announcements and direct communication from the Department of Health and Social Care to care home managers states that:
- Lateral Flow Tests are to be distributed to all CQC registered care homes ‘during December’.
- The supply will be sufficient to test up to two (preferably constant) visitors per resident twice each week ‘by Christmas’.
- Tests will need to take place in a suitable area that allows infection control, social distancing etc.
- PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing should follow a lateral flow positive test result as a confirmatory test leading to required self-isolation.
It is acknowledged that ‘rapid tests’ do not guarantee no risk of infection and robust infection, protection and control measures are still required.
Other issues to note are that:
- Screening against respiratory infection symptoms should also take place, and no one in isolation or quarantine should be admitted.
- Gifts should be cleaned at the care home and be suitable for cleaning.
- Care homes should keep temporary records of visitors for Test/Trace purposes.
- Homes must still adhere to the Mental Capacity Act legal and decision-making framework, with the support of local authority social workers.
Key Infection, Prevention and Control guidance
Infection control is a key aspect of safe visiting and guidance on the use of PPE must be strictly adhered to. This guidance covers best practice in social care settings.
Christmas decorations
Please think sensibly about Christmas decorations and how they are used. If your care home or organisation has a COVID-19 outbreak then you must be prepared to safely remove and quarantine the decorations. This is because the virus can linger on surfaces and deep cleaning a Christmas tree and decorations is very difficult.
Please also think about items such as hampers, sweets, donated food etc. These are all things that can encourage people to cluster around and eat together from a shared plate.
We have not received anything from the Government regarding national guidelines so, at this stage, we simply ask people to be sensible and cautious. We are developing further guidance and will distribute this in the near future.
Outward visiting guidance
This guidance applies to residential care settings for older people and, in particular, adults of working age. Please note that separate guidance will be issued for those in supported living settings.
As risks are usually significantly greater for older people than for those of working age, visits out of care homes should only be considered for working age residents. Care homes should, however, support visits out for older people in exceptional circumstances, such as to visit a friend or relative at the end of their life.
Christmas bubbles and care homes
From 23 December to 27 December, people across the UK will be able to form a 'Christmas bubble' made of up to three households.
A care home resident may form a bubble with one other household, and should not form a three-household Christmas bubble at any point.
Christmas guidance for everyone
National guidance for the Christmas Period
As well as issuing guidance on particular settings, the above national guidance covers:
- Meeting friends and family
- Visiting bars, pubs and restaurants
- Visiting churches and other places of worship
- Visiting shops and Christmas markets
- Attending events, including performances and Christmas lighting ceremonies
- Celebrating New Year’s Eve
- Carol singing
- Going to work
- Going to school, college and university
- Attending events organised by schools and other education settings, including nativity plays
- Childcare
- Visiting relatives in care homes
- Travel within the UK
- Volunteering
- Weddings, civil partnerships and funerals
Christmas arrangements for PPE collections in Devon
Adult social care service providers, personal assistants and unpaid carers can access free PPE supplied by the Department of Health and Social Care via Devon County Council using this simple online PPE request form.
You will need to allow at least 7-10 days’ notice when submitting a request for PPE. Once we receive your request, we will call you to arrange a collection from one of our PPE stores.
During the Christmas period our PPE collection service will be limited and it may take longer to process your request.
The PPE collection stores will be closed on the following days: Friday 25 December 2020, Monday 28 December 2020 and Friday 1 January 2021.
Please ensure you order and collect your PPE in advance to avoid running low on supplies. If you have any queries please email us.
Community Providers use of Capacity Tracker
As you will know from communication sent by the Care Quality Commission last week, from 30 November 2020, domiciliary care services, extra care housing schemes and supported living schemes will start to report their COVID-19 information through Capacity Tracker rather than to the Care Quality Commission. The last CQC survey request form was sent on 27 November. The current set of questions from community care providers will remain unchanged for the moment.
Data from community care providers will be available to access on Capacity Tracker and we will continue to make it available through the ASC COVID-19 Tracker on LG Inform. Further detail on the transition is available. If you are having difficulties accessing the new system then please contact the help desk on 0191 691 3729 or email Capacity Tracker.
Nursing Associate Apprenticeships – funding available
Funding is still available for the Nursing Associate Apprenticeship programme and you can read how positive managers have been about the programme. Please contact Debbie Shears if you want a practice perspective on the apprenticeships.
To find out more about the programme and funding please email Maureen Holman or ring her on 07890 382843.
National roll-out of Lateral Flow Tests (LFT) to care homes
Emails from the Department of Health and Social Care have gone out to care homes about the national roll-out of LFT. The first email (National roll-out of LFT to care homes) has gone to all care homes. The second one (Important – Care Home Visitor Testing) has gone out to the first 385 care homes that will be receiving their test kits this week. Included within the second email are instructions on preparing care homes for visitors and a template letter to send to visitors to explain the testing process.
The NHS Nightingale hospital in Exeter
The NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter is now open and accepted its first patients last week. The hospital is designed to provide care for patients with COVID-19 and can support both ventilated and non-ventilated care. Patients with COVID-19 who need the additional services available within an acute hospital will be cared for there.
The 116 bed hospital is one of seven Nightingale Hospitals commissioned earlier this year as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital is staffed by health and care staff from across Devon. Work has been undertaken to ensure sufficient numbers of named staff can be released to safely open the Nightingale.
Remember to share your good news stories in this newsletter!
Revisit previous good news stories
|
