 19 March 2021
Public: coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for Devon on our website
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Do it for Devon
Stick with us and keep following the guidance to keep everyone safe and well.
We need the support of local residents to keep following the lockdown guidelines and you must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. If you do need to leave home, please remember advice and guidance around social distancing, washing hands and sanitising hands regularly, wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces (unless exempt), and avoiding busy places.
Latest message from Steve Brown, Devon’s Director of Public Health
"Vaccine incredibly successful, but more outbreaks likely", says Director of Public Health Devon
Click to watch on YouTube
Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon, has given assurance that the coronavirus vaccine is ‘incredibly successful’.
Steve Brown said that since the vaccination programme began, the numbers of people with coronavirus needing hospital treatment or dying have reduced significantly.
The latest research shows that the vaccine gives about an 80 per cent protection against needing treatment in hospital, and an 85 per cent protection from dying from coronavirus.
He was responding to a question about the effectiveness of the vaccine, following two outbreaks of coronavirus in East Devon care homes.
Residents and staff in both homes had had their first dose vaccinations and are due their second doses very soon.
“But no vaccine is one hundred per cent effective,” he qualified.
“There will still be people who catch coronavirus, and particularly those most vulnerable – the elderly and those who have clinical risk – who will potentially get coronavirus and still become seriously ill.”
Asked whether outbreaks like these can happen again, Steve Brown said:
“We are going to continue to get small outbreaks in settings such as care homes, workplaces and schools. But whenever we get an outbreak, the response is quick and swift.
“Agencies (including Public Health Devon, Devon County Council, NHS Devon, Public Health England) come together, we look at how we can put in additional resources, such as additional staff or other appropriate resources, and we step up the cleaning regime for example.
“Such measures are designed to protect and safeguard those people in that setting, and to try to reduce any onward transmission.
“Even when you’ve been vaccinated, it’s still really important that you continue to adopt public health measures – stay at home. If you do need to go out, make sure that you keep social distancing, wear those face coverings when indoors in public spaces, and wash your hands regularly,”
Watch the interview with Steve Brown.
The two outbreaks make East Devon case rates currently the highest in the county, even though they, and cases in Devon overall are still below the national averages.
Case rates in Devon have been falling, but in recent weeks that decline has slowed.
Case rates in the county are currently highest in people aged 20 to 39 years old.
CCG Members' briefing - coronavirus vaccination in Devon
Please see the latest coronavirus vaccination briefing for Members from NHS Devon, Devon’s CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group):
You can view current and previous copies on the Provider Engagement Network (PEN) website
Trading Standards Service expands to include Plymouth
From Thursday 1 April, Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service will merge with Plymouth City Council Trading Standards.
All four authorities have approved the plans which will give all four councils ‘greater clout’ at a time of financial pressure, regulatory change and increasing demand.
The newly expanded service will cover the entirety of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership area, creating a consistent approach for businesses across the region.
The larger single service will benefit from further economies of scale, leading to an increased capacity for tackling major investigations, greater resilience in dealing with emergencies and allow for wider specialisations in the support and advice it can offer businesses.
The joint service will maintain its current offices in Devon, Somerset and Torbay and will retain offices in Plymouth.
It is not anticipated that any staff will have to relocate, and no redundancies are proposed as a direct result of this merger.
Can you help Devon's NHS work with local Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities on vaccine up-take?
The NHS in Devon is supporting people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to take up a potentially life-saving coronavirus vaccination when they are eligible as part of the national programme. Like other areas of the country, take-up of the vaccination in Devon is lower among ethnic minority communities, ranging from approximately 63 to 76 per cent compared to 85 per cent of White British people.
If you can help reach relevant communities by becoming a vaccination ambassador then please contact NHS Devon via email.
Vaccine ambassadors representing different Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities will also be working with local groups to provide information and reassurance.
New film shares experiences from Devon vaccination centres
A new film by the NHS in Devon highlights the positive experiences of patients, volunteers and staff across the county’s vaccination centres.
Getting the coronavirus vaccine - a message from Devon
Click to watch the short YouTube video about getting the coronavirus vaccine in Devon
Still concerned about the vaccine? Read this!
We have put together information about some of the common concerns to help you make an informed decision.
Asymptomatic community testing now available in Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot has been added to the list of stops for our mobile community testing centres.
The service, which offers rapid tests for people without symptoms, with results available within the hour, will be at Teignbridge Depot Car Park on the Brunel Industrial Estate between 8.30am and 5.30pm every Friday. And from Sunday 21 March it will also visit the town's Cattle Market every Sunday.
Carers, people who are in a household or support bubble with school-aged children, or people who leave the house to work or volunteer, are encouraged to take these quick and simple tests twice a week to identify whether they are carrying the virus and potentially unknowingly giving it to others. If they test positive they'll need to isolate immediately to break the chain of transmission.
Mobile testing vans already stop in Axminster, Exmouth, Honiton, Ivybridge, Okehampton and Tavistock, and there are also fixed community testing sites at County Hall in Exeter, the Civic Centre in Barnstaple, and the Exe Valley Leisure Centre in Tiverton. You can find out more about community testing on our website.
Parents asked to do all they can to help prevent the spread of coronavirus
Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon, is asking families with school-age children to do all they can to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Households of school-aged children are also encouraged to take two lateral flow tests a week, and can arrange to collect the home test kits from their nearest national testing centre, or there is home delivery by the NHS for those who can’t collect.
Alternatively, parents can have their lateral flow test at any of our local community testing centres, with results emailed and texted back to them within the hour.
We've set up community testing centres in locations across the county. Check our website to find out how to get a test.
The picture in Devon schools
The return to school has been really positive across the whole of the county with high attendance in Devon schools. We have had some great responses from pupils, parents, heads and teachers, and schools have done a tremendous job in building confidence and welcoming pupils back.
More than 95 per cent of children were back in school in Devon at the end of last week.
The picture in Devon schools week commencing 8 March 2021:
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Devon
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National
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All schools
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95%
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89%
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All schools eligible children only
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96%
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N/A
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Primary schools
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97%
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95%
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Secondary schools
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95%
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89%
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Special schools
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91%
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83%
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Children with Education, health and care plans
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89%
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84%
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Children with a social worker
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88%
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82%
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Children in care
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91%
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N/A
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Children's Services Improvement Partnership
The Improvement Partnership met on Thursday 18 March. This was a key meeting in terms of reviewing progress across our core priorities a year into improvement, coming out of lockdown, our Commissioner Eleanor Brazil coming to the end of her involvement with us and hopefully handing over to a Department for Education Improvement Adviser in April, and Melissa Caslake setting out her direction of travel.
The Improvement Partnership considered a detailed review across our four key priorities; care leavers, children in care, neglect, and leadership and management, and focused on:
- work to date (how much?)
- evidence about current performance and the quality of practice (how well?)
- and whether this was impacting on outcomes for children (so what?)
In addition, we heard the voice of young people, of staff, and initial findings that enabled priorities for the next phase to be proposed and agreed.
At the heart of this next phase is workforce stability including workforce development based on restorative practice and values leading to improved work to create behaviour change with families and informing our leadership and management. The next phase also focusses on us being a learning organisation, and focusing more clearly on achieving our core priority outcomes for children and young people.
This is a really critical and exciting moment for Children's Services where we are shifting our focus to not just fixing the things that Ofsted found but to the fundamental aspects that impact on how we listen to and work with children, young people and families, our partners and each other to achieve priority outcomes.
Children's Services will now be working with staff and managers to develop and implement the more detailed plan for the next phase to support the improvements needed, and will be developing materials to communicate key messages about priorities for the next phase within teams.
BBC's Victoria Derbyshire co-presented the awards with Lenny Henry. Here she is pictured with DCC's Ian Hobbs, Senior Commissioning Manager-Market Management, Adult Care and Health (centre) receiving the award at the online ceremony
Devon wins national award for project supporting unpaid carers
Devon has scooped a prestigious care award at the Health Service Journal Awards for a project designed to support unpaid carers. The project involves dedicated staff from Devon Carers, a service commissioned by Devon County Council and NHS Devon CCG, working closely with hospital teams to identify situations where carers are involved, and where support for those carers is needed for patients to return home safely, or prevent hospital admissions.
Winning this award is a huge achievement and is a tribute to so many who have developed and led this service.
 Jennie Stephens, Chief Officer for Adult Care and Health, said:
"Winning awards like these only happen through hard work, energy and major commitment and thanks go to the whole team for all they have done to make this possible and cement Devon’s reputation as a leader in this field.
"They have worked tirelessly with colleagues in the hospitals, with the CCG and with our partners at Devon Carers (Westbank) who have delivered the service. Unpaid carers are under such huge pressure at the best of times but even more so during the pandemic and they are rightly seen as one of our top priorities for the coming year."
Guidance on care home visiting
The Department of Health and Social Care has published revised guidance for professionals who visit care homes. The guidance strengthens the existing approach for testing professional visitors to care homes in order to reduce risks from visits.
Shielding update due soon
The Government is expected to give more detail on advice to clinically extremely vulnerable patients after 1 April – the current advice to shield runs until 31 March. The Government’s COVID response ‘roadmap’ has previously indicated it anticipates that it will no longer be necessary to advise shielding beyond the end of March.
Learning disabilities community reassurance
A short film to allay anxieties and support people with learning disabilities to have the COVID-19 vaccination has been produced by The Turning Tides Project, in partnership with NHS Devon and NHS England, featuring the vaccination site at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre in Crediton.
NHS starts text alerts for life-saving COVID-19 jab
The NHS has started texting people to invite them to book their COVID-19 vaccination, making it quicker and more convenient to get an appointment.
The message will include a web link for those eligible to click and reserve an appointment at one of their local large-scale vaccination centres or pharmacies.
Texts will arrive in advance of the standard letter, meaning the NHS can react faster to changing vaccine supplies and fill appointments quickly to help increase uptake of the life-saving jab.
However, in some cases text messages have been used by scammers to try to collect personal details from people, get them to ring premium rate numbers or enter their bank details. So our Trading Standards team is reminding people of a simple checklist to help give reassurance that a text invitation for a vaccination appointment is genuine:
- Texts will be from ‘NHSvaccine‘ and are separate to any invites people may get from local NHS services such as GP surgeries or hospitals.
- The COVID-19 vaccine is free of charge – a genuine text will not ask for money or state a cost.
- The NHS will never ask for bank account or card details, PIN or banking passwords or copies of personal documents to prove identity.
People will continue to receive letters inviting them to book an appointment as well as a text alert, to ensure that those who don’t have a number registered or need information in different languages or formats don’t miss out.
If people cannot or would prefer not to travel to a mass vaccination centre or pharmacy, they can choose to wait to be invited by their local GP service.
Government targets false vaccine information on social media
The Government has launched a new social media campaign to tackle misleading and false COVID-19 vaccine information being shared through private message channels.
Spreading false information about the coronavirus vaccine is dangerous, so it's important to follow the SHARE checklist:
- Check - is it coming from an expert?
- Look closely - does the information seem trustworthy?
- Still unsure? Don’t share it
The campaign is fronted by trusted local community figures such as imams, pastors and clinicians in short, shareable videos which include simple tips on how to spot misinformation and what to do to stop its spread, signposting to the NHS for the best source of information.
It's being supported by the world's biggest social media companies and has been created following concerns from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) of low vaccine uptake amongst ethnic minority communities.
A recent Ofcom study also showed that people from a minority ethnic background were twice as likely as white respondents to rely more on people they know, people in their local area or people on social media for information about coronavirus.
The full toolkit, with content designed to be shared via WhatsApp and Facebook community groups, as well as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, is available on the Government's website.
Free rapid tests for all businesses for regular workplace testing
All businesses in England, no matter how small, can now sign up to the Government’s COVID-19 workplace testing programme to order free lateral flow tests for their employees. Regular testing could be the difference between a workplace being able to stay open and operational, or needing to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak. It will form a crucial part of the Government’s plan to gradually and safely ease restrictions as we get back to a more normal life.
Businesses have until Wednesday 31 March to register for the Government’s workplace testing scheme, which will remain free until the end of June. They will be provided with all the information they need to plan and deliver their testing programme.
Anyone whose job or volunteering work requires them to leave the house and be in contact with others can also get a free lateral flow test at one of our community testing sites. Find out more about tests on our website.
By pulling together across the Council, with our partners and our communities, we are doing everything we can to help us all through this incredibly difficult time. Thank you to you and your community and stay safe and well.
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