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Please note the cessation of Devon County Council’s PPE Hubs in today’s issue and the offer of surplus equipment.
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.
Devon County Council PPE Hubs closing at the end of January 2023
Devon County Council will be closing its 2 PPE distribution hubs at the end of January 2023 after 2 years of distributing free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline workers, Adult Social Care providers, Childrens Social Care providers, Personal Assistants, and Carers.
All eligible Providers, Services and Individuals can continue to order until 5pm on Tuesday 17th January as normal using the Devon County Council online order form link. The form link will not work after this date.
Surplus stock
Due to the various changes in PPE guidance, we have large quantities of goggles, Hand Sanitiser, LFT kits and safety glasses in stock. Please let us know using the form above if your teams can make use of these and if so please let us know how many items you would like.
If you have any difficulties accessing the Portal or any urgent requests for PPE before the 30 January 2023 you can contact the Devon County Council PPE team via the following email and they will endeavour to assist you - adultsc.personalprotectionequipmentadultsc-mailbox@devon.gov.uk.
Ordering PPE from 21 January 2023, national offer extended
The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that it will continue to supply free PPE to eligible sectors in line with Government Policy until 31 March 2024 or until the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) stocks for COVID-19 supply are depleted (whichever is sooner). This means that eligible providers (including Personal Assistants and Carers) and Local Authority Services can still obtain their PPE supplies directly from the Government PPE Portal. Your order will be processed via this Portal and your supplies will be delivered directly to you.
To register, please contact the PPE Portal customer services team on 0800 876 6802 between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Alternatively you can email the team on ppeportal.queries@unipart.com.
Please note that DHSC are encouraging providers to only order PPE based on current demand - DHSC will not accept returns of unused or expired PPE. Order limits will continue to apply and order volumes will be monitored.
Free personal protective equipment (PPE) scheme
Please note that you will not be able to obtain LFTs from the PPE Portal, however, if you are eligible these can be obtained via the Government website using the following link – Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for adult social care services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Funded wellbeing training
We are kicking off the New Year with new Wellbeing Support Buddy and Champion training sessions and still have some places available. Join our free 10-week program and learn how to support the health and wellbeing of your colleagues. These places are available only until the end of January. The training is designed to support you in understanding trauma and its impact, building resilience, mindfulness, and identifying burnout and stress in colleagues. Learn how to apply motivational interviewing skills and psychological first aid at work, and how to have sensitive conversations with colleagues. Share with your team and register your interest to get started.
Northern Care Homes Team - RESTORE2
What is Restore2?, it’s a tool used by Residential, Nursing Homes and Domiciliary Care Agencies to recognise and escalate deterioration in individuals in their care. It is designed to support staff to: -
- Recognise when a person may be deteriorating or is at risk of physical deterioration
- Act appropriately according to the persons care plan to protect and manage the person
- Obtain a complete set of physical observations and the use of "soft signs” to inform escalation and communication with health professionals
- Speak with the appropriate health professionals in a timely way to get the right help, in the right place
- Provide a clear escalation history to health professionals to support their decision making.
The fully funded training can be provided either face to face or virtually via MS Teams for all Care Services in North Devon. Complete the Pre Training Assessment form, once you have completed this a member of the team will contact you to book a training date.
Urgent Care Response (UCR) Teams
Do you know there are team of advanced clinicians in your community who can respond within two hours if someone’s health or wellbeing suddenly deteriorates at home. This can avoid the need for an ambulance and prevent hospital admission. If you think your resident could be admitted to hospital unless they are seen within two hours, call your UCR team. Examples of possible scenarios includes falls with no serious injury, palliative/end of life crisis support, urgent equipment provision, reduced function and mobility. The contact numbers for your local UCR team are:
- North Devon UCR – 01392 381208 option 2 / option 2
- Eastern Devon UCR – 0345 6007878 then the person needs to choose the cluster. If they pick the wrong one the team will redirect.
- South Devon and Torbay UCR – 01803 654433
- Livewell SW UCR - 01752 434908 option 1
- Plymouth City number of 01752 437777 opt 6
This poster is an example from Torbay and South Devon and gives further information of the service offered – please be sure to use your local phone number if you wish to contact this service though.
DWP-hosted Vulnerable Customer Network
Please see below if you would like to sign up to the Department for Work and Pension’s Vulnerable Customer Network address book.
vulnerable customer network address book (office.com)
2023 Adult Social Care User Survey about to start
The annual statutory Adult Social Care User Survey (ASCS) will be sent out in January 2023. The survey seeks the opinions of service users aged 18 and over in receipt of long-term support services funded or managed by social services and is designed to help the adult social care sector understand more about how services are affecting lives to enable choice and for informing service development. The annual survey asks adult social care service users in the community or residential care, about their quality of life and what impact care and support services have on their quality of life. Data from this survey enables councils to benchmark against peers and to gather information to support their local commissioning , performance and strategy. It also supplies data for a number of measures in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework.
- Some residential and nursing care homes and supported living establishments will have received a letter in December 2022 which is used to identify services users who do not have the mental capacity to consent to participate in the survey.
- Questionnaires will be posted out to approximately 1,300 social care users this week
If you get a query from someone who has received a questionnaire, please direct their query to the following number 01392 383617.
Energy Network Association Winter support information
Following the recent Energy Aware Webinar and as part of our #EnergyAware campaign (www.ofgem.gov.uk/EnergyAwareBusiness), The Energy Networks Association has published a:
- Health and Social Care Professionals Briefing note
- Be Winter Ready Pamphlet
These provide power cut information and advice for anyone responsible for running care home services, people who work in a care home setting and those who manage assisted-living residences.
Both publications can be found on the ENA care and assisted provider web page which is designed to help care and assisted living providers understand the precautions they should take as a business, ways local network operators can help and what to do and who to contact if there's a power outage.
To be kept up to date on news and events from Ofgem including updates on our #EnergyAware campaign, please kindly email stakeholders@ofgem.gov.uk to be added to our distribution list. Please also let us know if you are happy for us to share your contact details with third parties such as the ENA, ESO and government departments.
Are you struggling with the cost of living? Reminder!
There's some useful advice on our website for residents and businesses in Devon who are struggling to afford to pay for their energy, water, food or other essential items. It includes information about support for low-income families via the Household Support Fund, such as free school meal holiday vouchers, the holiday activities and food programme and 'Fuel, Food and More' grants.
There's also help for those using pre-payment meters, and who are struggling to meet their energy needs, via Citizens Advice Devon.
The Warm Spaces website has a map of places in the community that are free to go and be comfortable and warm with no judgement. They include places such community centres, churches and libraries.
If you can't afford the food you need, you can contact one of Devon's foodbanks listed on our PinPoint website. There are a number of supermarkets, cafés and restaurants offering free or £1 meals for children during the school holidays.
‘Pinpoint’ – the Devon Community Directory
PinPoint is Devon's community directory, used by the public, GP’s, health sector, DCC staff in order to find suitable services and support in their local area. Please can providers ensure you have your company/ service details registered on here and ensure the information is always up to date. It is populated by providers through setting up an account. If you need help or see any errors please email pinpoint@devon.gov.uk
Integrated Care System for Devon (ICSD)
ICSD 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.
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