|
This issue contains feedback on the workforce issues discussed at last week’s Countywide Forum. Further feedback is welcome as an opportunity for Devon providers to influence national thinking.
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.
Countywide Strategic Forum ongoing discussion of Workforce issues
A huge thank you to those who attended our Countywide Strategic Forum last Wednesday, 28 February.
We are sure you would like to join us in giving our thanks to Jane and Jill from Skills for Care for taking the time to attend this forum and present their strategy and give us all an insight into their future plans.
Here are the presentations and useful links from the meeting:
The key themes from our group discussion on the miracle question:
“You wake up and the social care workforce challenge has been fixed - What has changed to make that possible and what priorities can we take to get there in the next, 1-5 years and 5-15 years?”
Pay and Conditions and Parity with the NHS including:
- Employee benefits to improve recruitment of new staff and keeping existing staff
- NLW increases are welcome but have put stress on differential between grades (not financially worth taking on more senior care roles often) and between economic sectors – i.e. where ASC might have been able to offer more than NLW to differentiate other sectors it now doesn’t have the resources to do so.
Training and Development:
- Strong view that qualification training is not the be all and end all – the softer skills of empathy and compassion are in many cases more important than Maths and English
- Needs to be strengths-based
- A fairly strong view that care staff should be a registered profession but with caveat re qualifications above
- T Levels are a problem as only now for NHS
- More accessible training opportunities for staff
- Barriers to learning removed
Carer Passports
- Recognition and value
- Debate about having care workers as registered profession – Care certificate
- Raising the status of adult social care/care sector within the country
- Leadership is key and we both need to develop leaders and support them to gain maximum impact – the Messenger review acknowledged this needs to be extended to ASC
- Starts in schools- parents and schools need to promote careers in ASC as highly desirable – DFE needs to engage with this
- Needs to be valued as an economic driver too (see LoveCare Prospectus)
- The best providers have much lower turnover, demonstrating that when you invest in staff and focus on well-being it is possible to improve retention
Other issues raised:
- Transport to be resolved for people in rural areas – driving lessons to be funded or bus/train passes
- Childcare to be easily accessible, affordable and flexible
- Investment in buildings – government help for care home etc to improve quality of living spaces
- More availability of social care assessors, OTs etc so there are no delays in referrals / discharges.
- Integration of H&S care budget to invest more into preventative services
- Culture of CQC needs to be more supportive
If you would like to add any additional feedback or add any comments please email us at socialcarebusinessrelations-mailbox@devon.gov.uk.
Valuing Care to independently review Older Persons Care Home Fee Model: meeting on 12 March
(Cost of delivering Residential & Nursing care in Devon)
Following on from the discussions in Care Home Forum around financial sustainability, we are keen to work with all care home providers to review the way in which we purchase your services.
We remain committed to working collaboratively with our providers of residential and nursing care for older people to improve the understanding of the cost of delivering services in Devon.
The Council has received feedback from both the provider market and our internal teams that it is the right time to review the existing Older Persons fee model and contract.
We have instructed Valuing Care Ltd to undertake an independent review of the cost of providing care home services for older people in Devon. Valuing Care have been reviewing the cost of care home services since 2006 and have developed established processes for undertaking cost surveys and identifying the usual costs of care. https://valuingcare.co.uk
The objective of this review is to provide commissioners with the latest intelligence about the cost of delivering services and the current pressures faced by local providers. The scope of this exercise is for Older People / Over 65’s long stay residential placements funded by Devon County Council. Health placements and hospital discharge rates are excluded.
We are inviting all Older Persons care home providers located in Devon to take part in this process. Providers will first be given the opportunity to review the draft survey template which has been designed to calculate unit costs for each service category.
Please join us on Tuesday 12 March 2024, 2-3pm to get involved with this work and discuss the template & find out more about the full process. Please ensure that you register for this webinar in advance using the following link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e3a8e671-261d-4295-8df9-d0015fcb8e27@8da13783-cb68-443f-bb4b-997f77fd5bfb
Once registered, the event will automatically be added to your diary with the event details, including the meeting link.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by emailing: socialcarebusinessrelations-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
Care Home Fees Consultation extended until today (7 March) at midnight.
Please note that Devon County Council has extended the care home consultation deadline until 7 March 2024 (today at midnight).
Care Homes were sent the consultation document on 1 February and they can also be found on the Provider Engagement Network.
If you have any further questions please contact socialcarebusinessrelations-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
The New Adult Social Care Acute Respiratory Reporting Process – another gentle reminder
Please remember to use the new web-based care OBRA Tool:
- An online Outbreak Risk Assessment Tool for Care Settings (Care OBRA Tool) has been used by the UKHSA Southwest Health Protection Team (HPT) since 31January 2022.
- It is used by Adult Social Care (ASC) settings reporting new outbreaks of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI’s) including COVID-19, Influenza (flu), unidentified ARI (e.g., chest infections), and single cases of Influenza.
- Due to its success, this Care OBRA Tool has been developed further to allow care settings to report ARI outbreaks directly online via a new web-based Care OBRA Toolwithout needing to call/email the HPT first, thus saving valuable time.
- This new web-based Care OBRA Tool launched on the 22nd of August 2023, it incorporates a degree of automation to the assessment process and advice given, so that providers receive a copy of their submitted information immediately and an initial advice email based on the infection and risks reported.
- SW HPT staff will still review the data manually and provide further advice when required.
- The following link will take you to the new web-based Care OBRA Tool: https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/ReportAnOutbreak
The full list of Updates to the Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Supplement to the infection prevention and control resource for Adult Social Care can be found at: 24.01.30_ARI in ASC list of updates.docx
And a useful flu and Covid symptoms poster can be downloaded from: SW_24.01.09_ARI_OB_Poster.pdf
Good News Testimonial: Devon Wellbeing Hub emotional support from Chaplains
Alongside Colleague Wellbeing Practitioners and Psychotherapists, the Devon Wellbeing Hub is proud to have a team of Chaplains who provide a listening ear and emotional support to all colleagues, regardless of their beliefs.
We spoke to a healthcare colleague about how the pastoral support she received from Jez Brown, Lead Chaplain, helped her get through a particularly difficult time in her life.
Why did you contact the Devon Wellbeing Hub? What made you reach out for help?
Things got really difficult last year. Something happened that left me frustrated, angry and disconnected. I decided to end my life. I ended up in an acute medical unit and I needed to speak to a Chaplain as I was feeling desperately hopeless.
What support did you receive from Jez?
I could speak to Jez in confidence and connect with him in a way that was not clinical. He allowed me to reflect on both life and death. I needed that deeper connection to give me a sense of hope, because I had lost it.
I was able to talk to him in a way that I couldn’t with my care-coordinator. With them it’s quite practical and medication related, whereas the support I received from Jez fed my soul in a different way and helped me answer deeper questions that I needed to seek within myself, which I found more powerful and sustainable.
I have a faith which has always been there, but when you get depressed or suicidal your world just closes down around you. I was angry with the universe. I started blaming things outside of myself, which wasn’t helpful. Jez helped me spark my spirituality again. This helped with things like going for a walk and being able to notice the world around me. I was able to see things from a different perspective, instead of just doing them for a reason (e.g. exercising/needing to walk the dog).
What do you think the impact would have been without the support from the Hub?
Without chaplaincy support I would likely have remained in a dismal place a lot longer and I am afraid to think where that might have led. I could not have received the kind of mental health support the chaplaincy offers anywhere else. It was the lifeline I needed to get me through a very difficult several months.
Would you recommend this service to colleagues?
Yes. Most definitely - for people of any faith or none. Chaplaincy support offers a different perspective to what people need to remain well. Jez is funny, positive and lovely. He’s genuine and you want to open up to him. He’s a very good man.
I could say so much more; my gratitude for the support I was given is profound.
What advice would you give to people who may be struggling?
Give yourself time. I’m not going to say time is a healer, but time allows you to view your situation from another perspective. Asking for help is so important - but healing comes within and it takes time. If someone asks me if I’m healed, I’d say no, but things are better and I’m glad to be alive.
Jez said: “We are honoured to be able to support colleagues as they work through difficult times in their lives. It’s always a privilege to be trusted to the extent that colleagues will unburden themselves to you. Being brave enough to take that first step is the key towards discovering healing and wellbeing – a sense of wholeness.
“We offer a safe and non-judgemental space to reflect on any life-issue that is causing pain or anxiety. Recently, by way of example, I have been walking alongside people suffering with stress, loneliness, depression, bereavement and low self-esteem - to mention but a few. If you are struggling, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are here to help you.”
Contacting the Wellbeing Hub
If you work in healthcare, social care or the police in Devon and are interested in our chaplaincy support, the Hub’s Colleague Wellbeing Practitioners can discuss your needs and make a referral on your behalf. Please get in touch by calling 0300 303 5455, email dpt.devonwellbeing@nhs.net or fill out the simple referral form on the Devon Wellbeing Hub website
Please look at other training opportunities available Devon Wellbeing Hub Events - 6 Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite.
Remember to share your good news stories in this newsletter
Has your support helped transform someone’s life? Have you got innovative practice to share? Send us your celebratory photos and words and we will help share good practice.
Revisit previous good news stories
|
