July 2020 Edition

Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Provider Forum information bulletin. We hope that you, your team, family and friends are continuing to keep safe and well during this pandemic.

In lieu of the Provider Forum, we will send out these bulletins regularly summarising updates from Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), as well as local and national initiatives.

Remember, the bulletin is interactive, so make sure you click the links to get the most out of it.

Have you got something to share?

We would love to hear your feedback or contributions, so if you have anything which you want to share, or have a question to ask us, email us here.

COVID-19 UPDATES

Care Workforce: join the new platform

Do you work in social care in England? You can now receive the latest coronavirus information, guidance, wellbeing support and discounts direct to your smartphone or inbox.

Download on Apple, get it on Google Play or sign up to view content online.

Fast track communication of discharge medication information for care home patients discharged from Gloucestershire Hospitals

Delays in the communication of discharge medicines to GP practices can cause problems for some care home patients. Therefore, as part of the local support to ensure that high standards of care are provided to care home patients, a 3 month initiative has commenced this week across Gloucestershire, aimed at the fast track communication of discharge medication information for care home patients discharged from Gloucestershire Hospitals. For the purposes of this pilot, this process will operate in addition to the usual hospital discharge communication process which will continue as normal. The Gloucestershire Care Homes Pharmacist (MOCH) team will be coordinating the process. Feedback will be sought from all stakeholders involved (ie. patients, care homes, GP practices and pharmacies) to identify any added benefits over the standard discharge process. One of the Gloucestershire care homes pharmacists (Liliana Knight, Chris Gifkins, Keshma Singh) may therefore be contacting care homes who have had a patient discharged to them within a few days of the discharge to check that any medication related issues have all been fully addressed for the patients involved from the care homes perspective.

Further details can be obtained from the Gloucestershire Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH) pharmacists via email: glccg.pharm.carehomeglos@nhs.net

Personal Protective Equipment

Updated guidance has been released with key updated questions and some additional information particularly around specifications of surgical mask types and relating to the care of people with learning disabilities and/or autism. There are two new guidance documents issued, one is here and the second is here.

The key changes are:

• Additional questions and answers have been added
• Some previous answers have been amended
• A section relating to care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism has been added
• Further detail has been provided on some of the recommendations.

DHSC Guidance Page – PPE Portal

Throughout May and June 2020, DHSC have been inviting GPs, small residential care providers (24 beds or fewer) and small domiciliary care providers (99 clients or fewer) to register and order with the PPE portal, in order to help meet their PPE needs in the current climate.

DHSC has launched a guidance page on the PPE Portal, to help provide information to those invited to register and order emergency PPE through the site.  This is an emergency provision and so the stock you can order is limited and is intended to help you manage until your own delivery arrives. 

 Please find the page here

The page details who is eligible to register with the portal, how the order process works and what customers should expect from the portal.

Please ensure that all eligible providers regularly check their email accounts registered with the CQC/MHRA in order to ensure that the email invitation is received and actioned.

Care Home Testing Expansion

Many of you will have taken up the Coronavirus National Testing Programme offer for whole home testing for both your residents and staff. The programme has today (03.07.20) been expanded to provide regular testing on an ongoing basis. Please use the link here for more information.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE UPDATE

DHSC has published guidance to know how and when they can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough employees during the coronavirus outbreak. The guidance includes examples of when direct payment holders may or may not choose to use the scheme which can be found here

Please see below communication from Public Health England.

Until further notice, from week commencing 22^nd June 2020, we are moving from our daily webinar to A ONCE WEEKLY meeting each Friday at 3pm to answer your questions on how to prevent and manage COVID-19. At the end of this email please find a link to register for the meeting/s you would like to attend ( note this is a different dial in to the previous webinars).

Please do continue to call the Health Protection Team on 0300 303 8162 to discuss a potential new outbreak ( a single possible/confirmed case or cases 28 days or more since the last case), an escalation of an outbreak that you have already told us about or any other urgent enquiries.

Your CCG or Local Authority link can advise on how you can access the NHS COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control training if you have not had this already.

We are continuing to see social care settings with cases and outbreaks of COVID-19 and we remain in a period of sustained transmission, which means COVID-19 is circulating in the community and people may have the infection without obvious symptoms. Please continue to refer to the GOV.UK website for guidance relating to COVID-19 and social care, link to the site is here.

**Important Recent Updates**( click links)

Updated 19/6/20: please click here

Updated 15/6/20: For Care Home guidance please click here and for safe working in Domiciliary Care the link is here 

INFECTION CONTROL / PPE TRAINING UPDATE

For phase 1 of the infection prevention and control (IPC) training for care homes was completed by 28th May 2020. For phase 2 of the IPC training for the independent sector, all Domiciliary providers, supported living and day services have now been contacted via phone and followed up where necessary by email. Fifty five providers have been trained to date, 39 providers are booked for training and 6 providers left to contact. A total of 207 staff have been trained of a total of 580 staff (36% of all staff trained). 17 providers have declined training. This gives a total of 94% of all providers who have been trained, booked for training or have declined.

NHSmail FOR SOCIAL CARE We wanted to remind providers about NHSmail which has been designed to bridge the gap and improve communications between health and social care services, something that is more important than ever due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. NHSmail has undergone a fast track roll out and we included details in our last Bulletin but just in case you missed it the NHSmail set up guidance can be found here.

Adult Social Care - Operational Structure

We would like to let you know about some changes to the operating model/structure within Adult Social Care in Gloucestershire.

Dawn Porter has been appointed to the position of Director of Adult Social Care Operations and Keith Vardy has now taken up the position of Head of Adult Social Care Operations.  Joanne Walker will now take over responsibility for management of the Learning Disabilities Operational Team in Gloucestershire.

We continue to suspend all membership and fees in order to assist all providers across Gloucestershire and one of those ways we have identified is to not add additional cost pressures through charging for our services. Any provider operating in Gloucestershire is eligible to join the GCPA during the pandemic.Click to edit this placeholder text.

Riki Moody, Chief Operations Officer hosts frequent webinars and informs attendees of information directly from the Dept of Health and Social Care, ADASS and the Local Government Association, as well as from the National Care Forum and Care Association, meaning that participants have all the latest guidance and best practice on a weekly basis. Over the next few weeks, listen, engage and discuss topics such as Local Outbreak Management Plans, PPE, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Funding and NHS Mail.   

To get involved, please complete the simple application form to gain access to the regular webinars. It is also the opportunity for you to ask questions and gain valuable knowledge from other providers in the sector.

The latest news on our website gives providers lots of additional resources too.

The GCPA Board Members wish to thank all providers for the amazing work that you and your teams are doing during this crisis.

CARERS UPDATE

Do you know how many unpaid carers are in your workforce?

Can you afford to lose them?

 A carer can be somebody, of any age, who provides support or who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of frailty, physical or mental illness, or disability. This would not usually include someone paid or employed to carry out that role, or someone who is a volunteer.

 In Gloucestershire, there are over 63,000 carers. That is 1 in 10 people.

 Many are juggling work with looking after someone and that number is rising. Without the right support, 1 in 6 carers are forced to give up or cut back work to care.

 NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Gloucestershire County Council is proud to be working with Employers for Carers to help Small and Medium Enterprises and health partners in Gloucestershire support and keep hold of the carers in their workforces.

 Practical resources, advice and information is available online here and is designed to help you look after staff who are juggling work alongside caring for someone. Use our unique access code #EFC4433 to register.

 This platform offers a one stop shop of information for carers and employers, including e-learning and toolkits.

DISABILITIES UPDATES

This section of the Bulletin will focus on updates specific to those Providers supporting people with Disabilities in Gloucestershire

Government Update

If you haven't already seen it the Government’s Learning Disability Covid-19 guidance can be found here and the Mencap Easy Read Guidance on Shielding found here is also really helpful for support workers.

Employment Update

Not all Heroes wear Capes Our customer Steven (not his real name) is a hero and an inspiration. Growing up in a rural and economically deprived area and having to deal with dyslexia meant that Steven’s work opportunities were severely limited, so he moved in with a grandparent living in Gloucestershire to expand his horizons and increase his chances. Although his family are located in various distant places around the UK he was determined to make his own way in life and work. Inspired by the stories of a family doctor and the actor Susan Hampshire, who were both diagnosed as dyslexic, Steven didn’t see his condition as an obstacle to employment, instead choosing to be inspired by his chosen role models. After working in construction where a serious accident halted his work temporarily, Steven used the time not only for his physical recovery, but also to volunteer with a Young Homeless Project because being out of paid work encouraged him to invest his time helping others. After various jobs through agency work he accepted a full-time contract in the public building cleaning sector, and works unsociable hours on a demanding shift pattern. This is both physically and mentally demanding, and when split shift working patterns see him finish late one day, only to start again early the next, Steven is inspired to improve his situation. But his current circumstances are not designing his future. In the current lockdown through Covid-19 he has continued to work the demanding shifts, and when one of his colleagues who works alongside him was really struggling and ready to quit Steven’s positive attitude and practical stoicism led him to guide Derek to think carefully about what he was planning to do. Having experienced serious setbacks himself, Steven coached his colleague to carry on, reminding him that although resigning would eliminate the current position and frustration, it would also create another issue Derek would then have to overcome. That day, Steven was Derek’s hero, saving him from an inevitable situation he would have had to deal with if he stepped down: finding alternative work from an unemployed position of his own making. Even though his own work situation sees Steven currently unable to achieve his personal ambitions of more meaningful work, improved pay, and a move into his own home from shared accommodation, added to him currently being unable to enjoy an active social life because his hours see him working when his friends are free… Still, Steven carries on. He has also advised the same to his colleague Derek by sharing his patient approach, and that’s another aspect of true heroes: they don’t always whoosh into a scene and fix things in a minute. Since meeting with Forwards, who will support him in his quest for an improved life accessed through a better job, Steven has consistently demonstrated the qualities needed to succeed, his quiet determination and steady progress is a credit to him. Together we will succeed and the team is really looking forward to the time when we will be able to share the end of this story, which for Steven will be the beginning of a new chapter in his life.