PEN weekly newsletter 4 February 2021

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Provider Engagement Network and NHS logo Header

  Supporting health and social care providers in Devon

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 we work our way through the priority groups, with good progress being made in Devon. We must, however, remain ever-vigilant when it comes to use of PPE and all other infection control measures, so please keep reinforcing those messages as well as promoting the benefits of vaccination.

Remember that our Provider Engagement Network website contains links to lots of national and local information which we try and keep as current as possible to help support hard-pressed providers and we always welcome feedback to help improve it.


Now that I have been vaccinated, is it okay for me to mix with others?

The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should give you good protection from coronavirus. But it may take a week or two for your body to build up some protection. You also need to have the two doses of the vaccine to give you longer lasting protection. Like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective – some people may still get COVID-19 despite having a vaccination, but this should be less severe.
For these reasons, even though you have been vaccinated, to protect yourself, your family, friends and colleagues, you still need to:

  • follow the current guidance both inside and outside of work
  • follow the current shielding guidance until the guidance changes
  • continue to implement all of the usual infection prevention and control measures, including regular cleaning and ensuring good ventilation
  • practice social distancing both inside and outside of work, including when working in communal areas and when socialising
  • wear face coverings and PPE in line with the guidance
  • wash your hands carefully and frequently.

New regional care homes vaccines advice

The NHS Regional Clinical Advice Response Service has issued this very useful information for care homes based on learning from the first few weeks of the vaccination programme. Please contact them for any COVID-19 vaccination related queries or to report an incident.

Visit NHS England and NHS Improvement South West care home guidance pages.


Latest COVID-19 vaccination programme updates

Documents relating to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme  This national ‘collection’ of documents was updated on 27 January and it includes guidance, training resources, consent forms/letters, public information, priority groups.

COVID-19 vaccination: guide for healthcare workers
Information for frontline healthcare workers on COVID-19 vaccination
Updated information about vaccination for pregnant women or women who may be pregnant, and scheduling for second dose.

Prioritising the first COVID-19 vaccine dose: JCVI statement
Statement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) about increasing the short-term impact of the COVID-19 vaccination programme  Added document ‘Annex B: comparison between 1 and 2 dose prioritisation for a fixed number of doses’.

Regulatory approval of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19
Information for healthcare professionals and the public about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine  Updated to reflect changes to the dosage interval, advice for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and to those with allergies. The product information now states that the vaccine is manufactured with enough volume for six doses, if latest guidance is followed.

Regulatory approval of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca
Information for healthcare professionals and the public about the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca  New information in Section 6.6 allowing for an additional dose to be taken if there is sufficient for a further full dose to be taken from the vial.

Regulatory approval of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna
Information for healthcare professionals and the public about the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna  Clarification of the quantity of doses in the vials.

COVID-19 vaccination: care home and healthcare settings posters
Information and promotional resources to support the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme


Vials with medicine

Reuse of medicines in care homes and hospices during COVID-19

During the pandemic, it may become necessary to make use of the national standard operating procedure (SOP) for the re-use of medicines. This SOP should only be used in exceptional circumstances where it is not possible to obtain medication through normal routes, but it is important to plan ahead and decide if your home wishes to make use of this arrangement if necessary. In advance of needing to implement the SOP, it is important to put processes in place to enable re-use of medication safely and appropriately and to ensure that these processes are clearly documented so that staff are able to follow them.

Other things worth considering are:

  • Who would be nominated to be in charge of the re-use processes on any particular day if large numbers of your regular staff are off sick?
  • Who would be designated specifically for controlled-drug management if large numbers of regular staff or senior team are off?
  • Is the required paperwork in place and accessible, is it clear who is responsible for completing this?
  • How will any agency nurses or supporting health care staff be made aware of the process and the recording requirements?

The NHS Devon Medicines Optimisation Team has produced an article Re-use of Medicines in Care Homes and Hospices during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19): reuse of medicines in a care home or hospice webpage contains links to the SOP document, supporting information and some template documents.


Latest Lateral Flow testing guidance

On Friday 29 January the Department of Health and Social Care updated its guidance regarding the retesting of positive staff. Staff who have previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR in the past 90 days are exempt from retesting (see section 6 of the guidance). This is now the case for retesting using Lateral Flow Devices (LFD).

If the care home chooses to retest and the result of the LFD test is positive, they and their household should self-isolate and they should arrange to have a confirmatory PCR test.

If this PCR test result is negative, they and their household can stop isolating and they can return to work. If this PCR test result is positive, then the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection should be considered – subsequent action should be guided by a clinically-led approach taking account the factors described in section 6 of the guidance.


Testing in day care

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is rolling out weekly asymptomatic testing for adult day care centres that remain open throughout lockdown or who are already actively in the process of re-opening.

This includes settings such as: purpose-built day centres, day centres attached to or part of a care home or supported living, other buildings in communities specifically used for regular adult day care.

In light of the current rates of high prevalence and the new variant, day care centres are being prioritised for testing in order to support services to remain open throughout the lockdown. DHSC recognises the importance of day care centres as an essential service for both the individuals who use them and as a form of respite for their carers. Testing should be undertaken by all staff and volunteers working regularly in the above centres, as well as private transport staff who support service users to attend.

For further information regarding testing in day care centres please email us.


Updated adult day care testing guidance

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the roll-out of weekly routine testing on 1 February for high risk adult day care centres that are deemed critical to remain open throughout lockdown. We have updated our guide, Delivering safe, face-to-face adult day care, in line with this. It includes practical information and practice examples, plus advice for conducting risk assessments and re-opening.

The latest updates to the guidance include:

  • Information on weekly routine staff testing for day care centres that are run by paid care staff and that are deemed to be critical to be open during lockdown by local authorities. Further information on eligibility is included in the guidance.
  • Further information on how to access testing, including instructions on how to conduct PCR testing
  • What to do in the case of an outbreak
  • Updates to the PPE guidance including more information on procurement of free PPE for COVID-19 needs via the local resilience forums of local authorities until the end of June 2021.

DHSC advises that day care centres begin testing as soon as possible. In the interim, it may be possible for staff to use local asymptomatic testing sites. Alternatively, day centres and Local Authorities may wish to minimise activity to include only tested staff or pause activity until they have a regular testing regime in place.

Further day care resources:


COVID-19 community testing service launched

Devon County Council is launching a community testing programme to identify asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus, people who show no symptoms, and is encouraging critical workers and others who are not already receiving regular testing, to start booking their appointments.

To book a test, visit Devon County Council’s website.

Poster for testing service

The four things local people can do to help the NHS vaccinate as many people as possible are:

  1. Stay at home
  2. Get vaccinated when it’s your turn
  3. Follow the Government advice (e.g. hands, face, space)
  4. Choose the right service for your needs (such as 111)

If you see the poster on social media, please like and share it so vital information can reach as many people as possible.


New vaccination questions for home care providers on the Capacity Tracker

The following new questions have been added to the daily update of the Capacity Tracker for home care providers:

  • How many staff in your organisation have face-to-face contact with people you support?
  • Number known to have had first dose of vaccine
  • Number NOT known to have had first dose of vaccine
  • Number where vaccination status of first dose of the vaccine is not yet known or undisclosed.

Guidance for the above questions can be found in the “What’s New” section “Home Care – Additional Workforce/Covid Vaccination Questions 2/2/2021”.


Vaccine awareness for Black, Asian, minority ethnic and faith groups in Devon

There are concerns that Black, Asian and minority ethnic people and people of certain faiths are less likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. We are looking to raise awareness around the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine and the benefits of having it, to ensure that people from Black, Asian, minority ethnic and faith communities are safe and protected against the virus.


Photo of Meera Syal

Celebrities unite to dispel vaccine myths

A group of celebrities, including actors Adil Ray and Meera Syal, cricketeer Moeen Ali, comedian Romesh Ranganathan, politician Sadiq Khan and presenter Konnie Huq have released a video appealing to black, Asian and ethnic minority communities in the UK to help address hesitancy around the COVID-19 vaccine. You can watch it on YouTube. 


Celebrating success - Getting out to get on

WayMakers and Hakeford Woods Forest School have partnered to offer a group project for young autistic adults aged 18-30 and those with anxiety. This project offers a safe space in beautiful surroundings for participants to connect with peers, engage in some purposeful woodland activities and access coaching support from an autism specialist. Our photo shows participants cutting back and replanting willow down in the valley. They also enjoyed a good ramble around the woods and a hearty lunch cooked over the campfire. More details about the project are on this poster.

People walking in the woods

 

Remember to share your good news stories in this newsletter!

Revisit previous good news stories

Issue 14, 4 February 2021


Are your colleagues missing out? Ask them to sign-up to this PEN newsletter here!


If you missed out on the first jabs...

If there are any residents and staff in care homes who missed out on first round of vaccinations please ensure their details are recorded on the Capacity Tracker so they can get their vaccinations.

You may already have regular links and discussions with local GP practices, but if that is not the case please, contact the named Primary Care Network Clinical Lead for your home. It may be that staff, rather than residents need to be vaccinated, in which case those vaccinations may be offered at another vaccination site.


Direct Payments and Personal Assistants COVID-19 vaccinations FAQs

DP and PA COVID-19 vaccination FAQs


DCC financial investment / market support during COVID-2020

A summary of the market support offered to individuals of Direct Payments and providers during 2020.


New survey for proxy medicine ordering for care homes

A new three-question survey for care homes in the Capacity Tracker must be completed by 28 February. The three questions are:

1.  Have you been setup by your GP practice to order online medication by proxy on behalf of your residents via GP online services? (Y/N)

2.  Have you been setup to access any additional information in the GP record such as test results or discharge information for residents? (Y/N)

3.  Where the answer is 'No' to the above, would you like support in setting this up? (Y/N)

You can find more details for the guidance and FAQ in the “What’s New” section of the Capacity Tracker.

Contact the team for support


A boy having a swab

COVID-19 test result wait time improves

NHS Test and Trace has reduced the length of time it's taking to get results back to people.

Turnaround now is similar to what it was early December, before the increase in tests over Christmas with nearly 94 per cent of results returned the next day after the test.


Poster warning of vaccine scam

Resources for raising awareness about vaccine fraud

Resources for raising awareness about vaccine fraud and what to look for to protect against scams


Janssen published positive data from the Phase 3 studies of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate, showing it to be 66% effective overall in preventing coronavirus in participants.


Novavax published positive data from the UK phase 3 study of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, showing it to be 89.3% effective in preventing coronavirus in participants.


South West ADASS vaccination communication materials

The South West Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) maintains a Google Drive folder containing useful communications materials including social care Q&A fact cards and social media videos.

Please note that a Google account is required to access Google drives.


NICE support for Registered Manager Networks

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has several guidelines and standards for care homes and home care settings. Subscribe to their free monthly social care e-bulletin NICE in Social Care for information and updates. Contact NICE.


Together for Devon

Together for Devon is a partnership of health and social care organisations working together with local communities across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay to improve people’s health, wellbeing and care. Their website contains general information on vaccination including FAQs.


DCC COVID-19 updates

Coronavirus advice to the public

Coronavirus local dashboard and data (Report on confirmed cases and deaths at a district level).

Weekly stakeholder briefing


National COVID-19 guidance updates

The GOV.UK website

The NHS.UK website


NHS Devon vaccination stakeholder briefings

Read the latest weekly briefing and view previous ones.


FREE one-hour practical session demonstrating hand washing and donning and doffing of PPE

NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group are still providing free online sessions for care homes, domiciliary care and supported living providers.
These virtual sessions are designed to be interactive and ‘live’ with the instructors, so you will need to use a device with a working camera and microphone to access the session. You will also need to have: disposable apron, fluid resistant surgical mask, eye protection (goggles or full-face visor), gloves and hand gel.

Group sizes will be small to facilitate practical demonstration. An email will be sent with joining instructions. Book a place via Eventbrite.


Social Care Tech: Technology and Transformation webinar

Future Care Capital is hosting this FREE webinar which will provide an opportunity to learn from a range of tech providers developing solutions for independent living and improved care at home on Tuesday 23 February from 4.00pm to 5.00pm. Further details and registration.


Rapid Induction Course

For those of you who require a Rapid Induction Course for your new starters or a Refresher Course for those returning to the sector, Skills for Care are currently running both of these for FREE (up to 31 March). For more information about them, please visit Skills for Care.

For more details or  assistance with this process, please contact Nicola Wright.


Social Care Institute for Excellence

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

This SCIELine bulletin includes a number of new or updated resources, plus their latest webinar with NHS England, two new online courses and much more. Sign up for future editions of SCIELine here.


Care home support meetings

We are inviting care home providers to attend Care Home Support locality meetings. These are informal engagement opportunities for care home providers, Devon County Council/Market Management Team and the locality Assistant Director/Social Care Operational teams to get together to share and exchange information such as emerging issues/concerns, discuss offers of support and messages from the acute trusts, including outbreak information.

The locality meetings are scheduled for:
South & West: Friday 5 February, 10.00am-11.00am
East: Monday 8 February, 11.00am-12.00 noon
North: Wednesday 10 February, 2.00pm-3.00pm.

If you are interested in joining or finding out more, please email us.


The national COVID-19 e-learning vaccination programme

This COVID-19 Vaccination e-learning programme is designed to provide staff with the knowledge they need to confidently promote high uptake of the vaccine.


Webinars, online training and forums reminder

Make sure you have the opportunity to participate in local and national webinars, online forums and training by visiting our website.


PEN events calendar

Check the calendar for future events.


PEN newsletter archive

View previous issues