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The most up-to-date information from these bulletins can be found on our website.
For general advice about COVID-19 please go to: nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
This bulletin covers:
Recent COVID-19 guidance and updates: restricting movement between care settings; lateral flow tests; Capacity Tracker; PPE for unpaid carers
Vaccination: proving medical exemption; booster jabs; don’t forget about flu
New service provider: housing-related floating support
Training and development: Adult Social Care Workforce dataset
Get involved: online interactive workshop to tackle loneliness in East Sussex
Recent COVID-19 guidance and updates
Restricting movement between care settings
The Government has updated the guidance (23 November) for care home providers on limiting staff movement between care settings to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection. The revised guidance describes circumstances in which staff movement may be ‘cautiously permitted’ to plan for capacity concerns and to ensure continuity of care.
This guidance also sets out what’s expected of providers on the routine movement of workers, how to manage the risks of deploying individuals between settings, and advice about how they can mitigate the associated risks.
Lateral flow tests: different brands
NHS Test and Trace has issued a downloadable A4 poster of the different brands of lateral flow test kits which illustrates what you need to know about the tests, including information about the swabbing process and development time.
Test and Trace advises that if the kit type is new to you, take time to familiarise yourself with the instructions for that test type, which are included in the box.
Although there may be some similarities in how you conduct the test, tests may require you to swab in a slightly different way or there may be different development times for the result.
Please remember that your test isn’t complete until you have registered your result, whether positive, negative or void.
Capacity Tracker: bulk upload update
Following the previous system update, some users are continuing to experience issues when making updates to the Capacity Tracker and/or some slowness when running reports.
To help improve the situation some changes have been made to the bulk update, separating the update into four sections:
- updating vacancies and daily business continuity (includes Covid vaccination, flu and PPE updates)
- ICF weekly/monthly questions
- home care survey
- updating contact information
Users of the bulk upload function should now select the appropriate template to update their data.
PPE for unpaid carers
The UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) has produced a resource outlining advice around personal protective equipment for unpaid carers (23 November).
This guidance offers recommendations for unpaid carers who do not live with the person they care for, but other unpaid carers may also choose to use the guide.
It should be used alongside guidance for those who provide unpaid care to friends or family which was also updated on 23 November. This brings it in line in line with the latest clinical advice from the UK Health Security Agency and aligns with other policy changes relevant to unpaid carers. Please refer to the summary change note in the guidance for a full breakdown of all the updates
Vaccination
Proving medical exemption
Anyone entering a registered care home for work or volunteering now needs to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they can prove they are medically exempt.
Any questions: Sussex Health and Care Partnership’s vaccination enquiries team: sxccg.vaccineenquiries@nhs.net or call 0800 433 4545 (open 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday)
Booster jabs
The national booking service is now offering booster jab booking for eligible people aged 40 to 49. The government is encouraging people to come forward for their jabs as soon as they are eligible to get the best possible protection.
It says new data has highlighted how important the booster jab is: the first real-world study on the effectiveness of booster vaccines by the UK Health Security Agency shows top-up jabs boost protection back up to over 90 per cent against symptomatic COVID-19 in adults aged over 50.
The findings shows that two weeks after receiving a booster dose, protection against symptomatic infection in adults aged 50 years and over was 93.1 per cent in those with Oxford/AstraZeneca as their primary course and 94.0 per cent for Pfizer-BioNTech.
Those eligible for a booster can book an appointment in advance – five months after their second dose – to be vaccinated when they reach the six month mark.
Don’t forget about flu
Flu spreads in a similar way to COVID-19. It can be a serious illness, particularly for older people or those with other health conditions. That’s why, if you’re eligible, getting vaccinated against flu is so important.
Flu outbreaks occur every year and good infection prevention and control measures are a must. The UK Health Security Agency has issued a downloadable poster that care homes can display to advise visitors to stay away if they have flu-like symptoms
New service provider
Housing-related floating support
East Sussex County Council, working with partners in District and Borough Councils, has selected a new provider of the housing-related floating support service in the county.
Housing charity BHT Sussex, which provides support and advice services across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, took on provision of the service from 23 November.
This new service combines existing support contracts for working age and older adults into a single countywide service. To support a smooth transition for clients, staff and partners, in the short term the service will keep the names Home Works and STEPS.
The service supports residents of East Sussex who are 16+, have support needs due to, for example, age, disability, substance misuse or ill health, and require support to sustain their accommodation.
Support includes help to prevent homelessness, managing a tenancy, money management and accessing healthcare. Staff provide support in people’s own homes, via phone or video call, or in community venues.
Find out more on the BHT Sussex website
Training and development
Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset
The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is an online data collection service that covers the adult social care workforce in England.
Data collected can help care providers run their business and manage their staff training needs.
The service also allows Government, the Department for Health and Social Care, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission to plan, fund and monitor the sector.
Karen Stevens, Skills for Care Locality Manager (London and South East), said: “ASC-WDS provides access to funding for training, safe and free management of staff and training records and the ability to benchmark your workplace against similar providers.
“Contributing to the ASC-WDS means you can make your voice heard and help us understand the priorities for our local workforce.
“From late November, new and existing users will also gain special offers and discounts across a range of Skills for Care products.”
Find out more about the ASC WDS dataset
Skills for Care is hosting an event on Zoom tomorrow (Thursday 25 November) to take a ‘virtual tour’ of the service and see its main features in action.
Register your place
Get involved
Online interactive workshops to tackle loneliness in East Sussex
Loneliness is a serious problem in our communities and it’s time to tackle it.
By tackling the root causes of loneliness, we can help people to feel more connected to the people and places around them – resulting in improved community health and wellbeing.
So we’re inviting those who work or volunteer directly with people in East Sussex to come along to an online interactive workshop.
Dates and times for our online workshops for the area you work in, or would like to attend:
- Hastings Tuesday 30 November 1pm to 3pm
- Eastbourne Wednesday 1 December 10am to 12pm
- Lewes district Friday 3 December 10am to 12pm
- Rother Tuesday 7 December 1pm to 3pm
- Wealden Wednesday 8 December 10am to 12pm
These events are part of the ‘Community Wellbeing: Connected People & Places’ project and are being run by Collaborate CIC in partnership with East Sussex County Council.
Register your place on Eventbrite
Any questions, please email tajwar@collaboratecic.com
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