Welcome!
Welcome to this week's newsletter, published 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.
Vaccination continues to be at the top of our agenda as the national programme is rolled out in accordance with the set priorities.
We are keeping our Provider Engagement Network website as up to date as possible in today’s fast-changing environment so please make use of that online resource.
Social care message regarding vaccinations
COVID-19 vaccinations have started being delivered to front line social care staff across Devon as part of the national vaccination programme and in line with priority 2 of the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation guidance.
Front line social care staff are those who are employed directly by Local Authorities as well as those employed by independent agencies (or individuals) to support vulnerable people living in their own homes or in other supported living situations. Also included in this cohort are a smaller number of volunteers working in frontline health and care roles supporting vulnerable clients.
Social care employers are working with the NHS and local authorities to ensure their staff receive the vaccination as soon as possible. They are being asked to prepare staff numbers, details and consent so they are ready to book people in.
Work is also underway to develop a list of staff who can be contacted at short notice to receive the vaccine in order to maximise vaccine uptake.
Vaccinations will initially take place at one of the four hospital hubs in Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay.
It is fantastic that so many staff are keen to get vaccinated and getting this delivered is a priority for the Devon health and care system. Please do not contact the NHS directly about an appointment, but do ensure that you have provided all of the relevant information to your employer so that when it is your turn you can be booked in.
Nationally produced consent forms and letter for social care staff
NHS Devon vaccination briefings
NHS Devon has published a stakeholder briefing and a wider Devon COVID-19 bulletin.
Local vaccination webinars
Thursday 14 January for care homes
Friday 15 January for all health and social care staff
Vaccine preparation: NHS numbers needed
Please remember that in order to be part of the mass vaccination programme, staff must be registered with their GP and must have their NHS number. This is an important part of preparation for the full vaccination roll-out.
Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund: round 2
Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund – round 2: guidance sets out the infection control measures that the new infection control fund will support, including information on the distribution of funds and reporting requirements.
Providers should ensure that staff who need to attend work or another location for the purposes of being vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 are paid their usual wages to do so, and any costs associated with reaching a vaccination or testing facility.
Reminder
Care homes visiting
For visiting into care homes:
- Arrangements such as substantial screens, visiting pods, and window visits should be in place during this period of national restrictions
- There is a limit to the number of visitors per resident to two, preferably one
- Screening, PPE, social distancing, IPC, cleaning of visiting space between visits etc. are required
- Dynamic risk assessments must be undertaken by the provider
- Room visits are permitted in exceptional circumstances including end of life with LFD testing required in these instances.
For visiting out of care homes:
- The national restrictions on meeting others apply
- A resident will not, in general, be able to meet another household indoors (e.g. visit their family in the family’s home)
- Visits should only happen in agreement with the home and be subject to individual and whole home risk assessments
- The care home in which the resident lives is considered as one household for support bubble purposes
- If a visit does take place, all members of the household hosting the visit should have had a negative result from a COVID test taken immediately preceding the visit
- Social distancing and IPC must be maintained
- When the resident returns to the care home the resident should self-isolate for 14 days
- Dynamic risk assessments by providers are required, which may differ between individuals
- No visits are permitted in cases of care home outbreaks
- Care homes should, however, support visits out in exceptional circumstances, such as to visit a friend or relative at the end of their life.
Some FREE health and social care e-learning resources designed for care providers, which have been produced for frontline staff by subject experts and digital design professionals.
National webinar: learning from local recruitment initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic
Recruiting to the social care workforce is a challenge at any time, but during the COVID-19 pandemic this challenge has been even greater. Councils and partner organisations have been creative in taking new approaches to attract people from different sectors to consider social care as a long-term career opportunity. Skills for Care, the Care Provider Alliance, ADASS and the LGA will be hosting three webinars to showcase some of the innovative solutions that the sector has developed over the past months:
- Webinar 1: Tuesday 2 February, 2.00pm - 3:00pm
- Webinar 2: Thursday 4 February, 2.00pm - 3:00pm
- Webinar 3: Friday 5 February, 2.00pm - 3:00pm
If you would like to register for one of the webinars, please email the organiser with the date you would like to attend.
Reminder
COVID Oximetry at Home
The COVID Oximetry at Home (CO@h) service supports care staff to detect early signs of deterioration in blood oxygen level so people can be referred for appropriate treatment quickly. CO@h is suitable for adults more likely to experience worsening or life-threatening deterioration. To receive the service someone must be diagnosed with COVID either clinically or via a positive test result AND Symptomatic AND EITHER Aged 65 years or older OR Under 65 years and clinically vulnerable to COVID. If you identify a resident who qualifies for CO@h, please contact your named clinical lead or the resident’s GP.
A CO@h team will support you by giving three calls during the individuals 14 days of monitoring. Please read further information.
Vaccines scams warning
Criminals are sending out texts and emails trying to make money from the pandemic, often with links to convincing fake NHS websites. Please remember that the NHS will NEVER ask for payment details so any requests for them will be fraudulent ones.
Information and advice on scams and how to report them
A leaflet warning about the scams is available to download.
Celebrating success
Care home resident vaccinations roll-out across Devon as seen here in Pottles Court care home.
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