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As guidance is updated to reflect ‘Living with Covid’, the main guidance collections are now up to date as well as the individual documents, with links to two such links given below.
We do our best to keep the content and structure of our PEN website up-to-date in these fast-changing times and your suggestions on how to improve the website are always welcome.
Summaries of COVID-19 guidance changes
Updated 'COVID-19 supplement to the infection prevention and control resource for adult social care’ to reflect the latest guidance on symptoms and aerosol-generating procedures. Added further information on testing and PPE for live-in carers. COVID-19 supplement to the infection prevention and control resource for adult social care - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The useful table that summarises changes compared to the before ‘Living with Covid’ phase has also been updated: Summary of changes to COVID-19 guidance for adult social care providers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Annual flu letter published
The Department of Health and Social Care and UK Health Security Agency have published the annual flu letter describing the national flu immunisation programme and outlines which groups are eligible for flu vaccination.
The main change is around the eligible cohorts and there has been a scaling back compared to the expanded cohorts in the pandemic. This was detailed in the NHS reimbursement letter in March, and had some media coverage at the time.
Those that are eligible are:
- all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2022
- all primary school aged children (from reception to Year 6)
- those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
- pregnant women
- those aged 65 years and over
- those in long-stay residential care homes
- carers
- close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
- frontline staff employed by the following types of social care providers without employer led occupational health schemes:
- a registered residential care or nursing home
- registered domiciliary care provider
- a voluntary managed hospice provider
- Direct Payment (personal budgets) or Personal Health Budgets, such as Personal Assistants
Cohorts that were eligible in the 2021 to 2022 season but are not included in the cohorts for 2022 to 2023 are:
- those aged 50 to 64 years
- secondary school children in Years 7 to 11 (between 11 and 15 years of age on 31 August 2022)
The letter and further info is online here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan
Work experience opportunities
Dartmoor Academy Trust, which is made up of Okehampton, Tavistock and Holsworthy colleges are looking for work placement opportunities in July.
The colleges have year 10 and year 12 students looking for work experience placements in social care. The colleges have a work experience week in July and would like to explore opportunities in social care for their students. In Y10 they want students to engage with the world of work and a different professional environment to which they are accustomed to in school. By year 12 the students should be securing a placement that is directly linked to their ideas or plans about their future career.
If you are able to assist with offering placements, please contact the career leads below:
Made with Care campaign survey
As you know, the latest iteration of the Department of Health and Social Care’s recruitment campaign, “Made with Care”, ran across national broadcast, digital and social media channels from 3rd November 2021 until 31st March 2022. Campaign evaluation is now underway, and the DHSC are looking to see whether it has been effective in supporting the adult social care sector to recruit new staff. Please complete the survey yourselves using this link.
Torbay & South Devon Care Homes ‘Hive’ online training platform
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) has been working collaboratively with local care homes to develop a dedicated training platform landing page for local care partners.
The HIVE, TSDFT’s training platform, has a care providers’ page organised by specific job roles with details of courses, resources, frequently asked questions, and short videos relevant for these roles. It has a featured links section, where courses and information covering current themes in healthcare are highlighted.
The provider page is currently available to care organisations in Torbay and South Devon. To request access, please email tsdft.hivesupport@nhs.net.
Care homes and NHS work together on training page
Calling all nurses: could you help to influence the South West’s next recruitment campaign?
Health Education England South West and NHS England and NHS Improvement South West are working on a new recruitment marketing campaign for mental health and learning disability nurses to the South West.
If you’re a nurse, we’d love to hear from you about your role. Your responses will help us to shape the campaign, which is due to launch later this year. To get involved, please fill out our survey.
The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes of your time and all responses are completely confidential. If you would like to be involved in future research, please leave your contact details at the end of the survey.
We know you’re incredibly busy, so thank you for taking the time to support this research. If you have any questions, or would like more information about the campaign, please contact Francesca Hobbs.
King’s Fund and Health Foundation statement on Social Care Cap
Please see here to read the joint statement by the King’s Fund and the Health Foundation on the government’s social care cap amendment.
Transforming Social Care: all your questions answered in one place
A reminder to visit Transforming Social Care, the one stop shop for anyone keen to learn more about the future of social care in England.
The Government has a long-term vision putting people and families at the heart of services. It is a vision promoting independence and community living, as well as providing more support for the adult social care workforce.
Visit our site to learn more about what’s changing and how the reforms will benefit you.
Organisations in ASC continue to benefit from apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are an exciting option for both apprentices and employers because they provide apprentices with the right skills and knowledge for a successful career and improve your organisation’s productivity. Whether you’re a small or large employer, you can access government funding to cover training and assessment costs and prepare your workforce for a bright future within your business; and the benefits don’t stop there. To hear more employer experiences, visit here.
Update from the Government on The Health Service and Social Care Workers (Scrutiny of Coronavirus-related Deaths)
The Health Service and Social Care Workers (Scrutiny of Coronavirus-related Deaths) Directions 2020 which ensured that NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts sought and prioritised the services of medical examiners to scrutinise the deaths of health service and adult social care staff with coronavirus. Have been revoked.
The revocation applied from 30th April 2022: The Health Service and Social Care Workers (Scrutiny of Coronavirus-related Deaths) (Revocation) Directions 2022 (publishing.service.gov.uk) The direction had applied from 3rd July 2020 and applied to NHS Trusts but regarding social care as well as health workers
The government’s life assurance scheme that applied to health and care staff dying from Coronavirus ended on 31st March 2022: NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme | NHS Employers
Make sure you get involved!
There are a variety of ways for you to engage with us. These include regular emails, newsletters, webinars and engagement meetings.
Get involved - Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
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Has your support helped transform someone’s life? Have you got innovative practice to share? Send us your celebratory photos and words and we’ll help share good practice.
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