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September 2020 edition
Welcome to the 5th 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.
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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.
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All Health and Social staff members can access a FREE COVID-19 antibody test and can access the online form here.
The form online form takes about 5 minutes to complete but all staff must ensure that:
- All details and correct and form if completed fully.
- That they include their NHS NUMBER for those who do not know what their NHS number is this can be obtained from your GP. Alternatively those who use on-line GP services can get it when they log in
- The mobile phone number provided must be accurate as this is the route by which results are conveyed
- Ensure they are able to make the appointment selected as clinics are in demand and failed appointments cause delay
COVID-19 Testing update
On 3rd of July, Ros Roughton wrote to Local Authorities launching the next phase of Covid testing in adult social care strategy where it was set out how care homes can access testing through local PHE Health Protection Teams in the event of an outbreak and through the National Testing Programme in other circumstances (the latter involving weekly testing of staff, as well as testing residents every 28 days). There is an attached matrix and a factsheet setting this out along with a copy of the letter.
DHSC have subsequently written to Local Authorities on 31st July stating that whilst they have had a positive response to the roll out of regular whole home testing with most care homes having now registered, as a result of a numbers of factors including rising demand across testing and unexpected delays, DHSC have not been able to reach all care homes for older people and people with dementia as quickly as hoped.
The timelines for regular care home testing have therefore been revised as follows:
• DHSC will now reach all care homes for older people and people with dementia by the 7 September 2020.
• If homes have already started regular testing, there may be a wait for the second month’s order to be fulfilled until all care homes for older people and people with dementia have been reached for the first round.
• All other adult care homes will be able to start to place orders for test kits from the 31 August 2020.
• All care homes that have symptomatic residents will continue to be able to access testing through the local PHE Health Protection Team in the South West.
DHSC will communicate directly with care homes who have registered for regular testing to inform them of the revised rollout dates. DHSC have reassured Local Authorities that care home testing has not stopped and over 50,000 tests are being issued a day to care homes across the country, with the majority of these in high priority outbreak areas.
Locally, we continue to work with our care homes to ensure they are up to date about the situation and support them where we can. We have good links with PHE South West and are assured that homes who have suspected outbreaks can rapidly access testing.
We hope that you will find this information useful and that it explains the delays that we know many of you have been dealing with in accessing whole home testing.
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As you will be aware in line with Gloucestershire’s commitment to managing the spread of Covid19 there is a need to take a Covid swab for individuals who are either taking up a residential care placement, moving within the community, starting a package of care or changing care provider and this, as a result of the continued threat of Covid19, has become part of ‘business as usual’ for us all.
Because of this we now have a dedicated mailbox through which referrals for swabs should come, and through which results will be conveyed to you.
By way of a reminder the swab needs to have been taken within 72 hours of a placement or package start date and must be NEGATIVE in order that the placement can begin. Please be aware that it can take 24-36 hours to receive the result so referrals need to be made in time to allow for this.
The dedicated mailbox for receipt of and sending of emails regarding testing is:
ASCtestingsupport@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Please remember if a placement is being made through Gloucestershire Integrated Brokerage (GIB) we will automatically request a Covid19 swab so you will not need to do this. This new mailbox is for the management of privately funded placements/packages and moves within provisions that are not being managed by GIB.
Please remember to provide the following information when requesting a referral:
- Full Name
- Full Address
- Date of Birth
- NHS Number
- Contact details of someone who can give access for the swab to be done if the individual is unable to manage this themselves such as next of kin
- Date of planned placement/start date of package
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Please find the link to the latest Supported Living Guidance for providers. The last guidance was withdrawn in May.
This guidance sets out:
- key messages to assist with planning and preparation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic so that local procedures can be put in place to minimise risk and provide the best possible support to people in supported living settings
- safe systems of working including, social distancing, respiratory and hand hygiene and enhanced cleaning
- how infection prevention and control (IPC) and personal protective equipment (PPE) applies to supported living settings
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NHS Test and Trace is a dedicated service for contact tracing, and is a key part of the country’s ongoing COVID-19 response. It is made up of national and local public health experts who undertake contact tracing under the supervision of Public Health England (PHE). When cases are linked to a high risk settings, for example a care home or school, or are particularly complex, Public Health England will lead the process of contact tracing.
The easing of social and economic lockdown measures following the outbreak means that organisations providing services commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) will need to assist this service by keeping a temporary record of customers and visitors. This needs to be done in a way that is manageable, and can support NHS Test and Trace to rapidly identify people who have recently come into close contact with a new COVID-19 case. This will then enable swift action to be taken to minimise transmission of the virus, contain clusters and prevent further outbreaks
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Purpose/ Scope
This guidance has been created to outline the expectations of GCC as commissioner / contract manager regarding the Data Protection considerations that all commissioned services should take when capturing data to support the NHS Test and Trace service. It is applicable to all services that will be open to the general public or any services accepting face to face visitors in a formal (e.g. scheduled meetings) or informal capacity (e.g. drop in services).
What’s required?
The government guidance released on 2nd July sets out what information needs to be collected. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with this guidance if your service is required to collect NHS Test and Trace information.
The following information should be collected by each service, where possible:
- Staff
- the names of staff who work at the premises
- a contact phone number for each member of staff
- the dates and times that staff are at work
- Service users and visitors
- the name of the service user or visitor. If there is more than one person, then you can record the name of the ‘lead member’ of the group and the number of people in the group
- a contact phone number for each service user or visitor, or for the lead member of a group of people
- date of visit, arrival time and, where possible, departure time
- if a service user interacts with only one member of staff, the name of the assigned staff member should be recorded alongside the name of the customer.
You should collect this information in a way that is manageable. If not collected in advance, this information should be collected at the point that visitors enter the premises, or at the point of service if impractical to do so at the entrance. It should be recorded digitally if possible, but a paper record is acceptable too.
Who will ask for this information?
NHS Test & Trace will contact your organisation directly if a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 informs them that they have visited your premises or been in close contact with members of staff or other service users. They will ask you for the contact details of anyone who the person would have had contact with.
What to consider
Ask for only what’s needed
You should only ask people for the specific information that has been set out in government guidance.
You should not ask people to prove their details with identity verification, unless this is a standard practice for your business.
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Be transparent with customers
You should be clear, open and honest with people about what you are doing with their personal information. Tell them why you need it and what you’ll do with it. You could do this by displaying a notice in your premises, including it on your website or even just telling people. To assist services in being transparent your organisation should create a standard Covid-19 Test and Trace privacy notice.
If you already collect customer data for bookings, you should make it clear that their personal data may also be used for contact tracing purposes.
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As a country we are slowly lifting restrictions on the general population that were in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 however we still need to take extra care to protect people who live in residential and nursing homes, supported living environments, and those who work with them.
With the introduction of controlled and time-limited visiting inside care settings we know providers will now be considering how and when to safely facilitate residents/ tenants visiting with family away from care settings and so we have drafted additional schedules to the existing Visiting Guidance. Please find an example protocol on outings/holidays away from the care setting which will always follow the Government guidelines.
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Important information for Social Care and Independent Sector Workers about Seasonal Flu Vaccinations 20-21
In light of the risk of flu and COVID-19 co-circulating this winter, ensuring all social care and independent sector workers are offered a free seasonal flu vaccine in line with the national flu immunisation programme will be essential to support the protection of vulnerable people and the resilience of all staff and the health and care system.
As in previous years, the NHS seeks to encourage those entitled to receive the seasonal flu vaccination to ensure they receive it
In the recent seasonal flu letter (Aug 5th) it states that staff, employed by the following, are amongst the most important to receive the vaccine:
- A registered residential care/nursing home,
- A registered domiciliary care provider,
- A voluntary managed hospice provider,
- ‘Personal Assistants’, employed through Direct Payment and/or Personal Health Budgets to deliver domiciliary care to patients and service users (This is a new eligible group for 20-21) year)
The purpose of this communication is to request that all Independent Sector Providers for Health and Social Care encourage all their members of staff to make arrangements to receive the seasonal flu vaccination. It is available free of charge from their registered GP surgery or from participating community pharmacies.
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We are aware many of you were able to take advantage of the offer of PPE training that was able to be delivered within your settings, and we do hope you & your staff found the training beneficial, and informative.
Please see the follow up video links to download and share with staff which can be accessed here. There is also a downloadable version of the training for you to disseminate to staff.
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Gloucestershire's Carers Hub
Covid 19 has brought challenges to all of our lives and tested us in ways we may never have imagined. It has been especially hard for our carers. The Carers UK report ‘Caring Behind Closed Doors’, as well as carers locally, have told us that lockdown has been really hard. A lack of respite, problems with accessing food and medication, and a huge sense of uncertainty, have all led to carers feeling anxious about the present and the future.
As lockdown eases, many people are able to start going back out into their community. We have heard that some carers are feeling anxious about this. Some are worried about a lack of social distancing in their local community, or some people’s cared for person has a hidden illness that means they don’t have to wear a mask and some carers are worried about how people will react to this. However, some carers may not be anxious at all and are looking forward to returning to the activities they used to enjoy.
We want to hear from carers across Gloucestershire, to find out what would help them in feeling more confident to engage in activities. What are carers looking forward to doing again and how we may be able to support with this.
Please can you share this short film and survey with carers you are in touch with. It will just take a few minutes to answer and will help us understand carers needs in their caring role and the support that could help.
Carers film introduction (1.5mins).
Please feedback to us through this survey.
Gloucestershire Carers Hub can send you a paper version if you prefer or carers can complete over the telephone: 0300 111 9000 or email.
We are also posting details on Gloucestershire County Council/NHS Clinical Commissioning Group/One Gloucestershire and Carers Hub social media pages please feel free to share and retweet.
Careers that Care
Please find a letter and some information from Careers that Care.
We hope you can share this with anyone with a learning disability and/or autism.
We also want you to share it with your staff.
If you have any questions please email us and if you want to us to call you, let us know your telephone number.
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Health inequalities survey
Our survey on understanding health inequalities that diverse communities face is now live! Here is the link to the survey.
We would greatly appreciate and value the worthy and respected opinions from any individual from a minority community so please share this information widely.
The reason we are so serious about this project is because it has been proven that individuals from diverse communities fare poorly in terms of general health when compared to the rest of the population. Conditions can be made worse when increased risk factors are combined with ineffective service provision. We are genuinely keen to see improvements in the way health services are experienced by those from all of the diverse communities in Gloucestershire.
This anonymous survey is intended to be as accessible as possible to the people you work with. Here is an easy read version. The survey will close on 20th September, with a summary report being provided to you and key partners by the end of October.
The Management Team of GCPA continue to temporarily suspend all membership fees in order to open membership up to all providers across Gloucestershire.
Therefore, if you are a provider who is not a member but wishes to engage our services, please complete the simple application form to gain access to the regular webinars:
www.gcpa.co.uk/membership-application/
We aim to continue to bring all providers the best information, advice and guidance from both local and national sources.
We encourage providers to voice their topical queries as GCPA continue to meet in partnership with senior representatives across the Health and Social Care system in Gloucestershire, to discuss all your feedback. We are continuing in our engagement with the wider system in all things COVID-19 related.
GCPA finds themselves in a unique position whereby we have a Board Member vacancy – if you are interested in joining this dynamic team please contact Riki Moody (Riki.moody@gcpa.co.uk) to register your interest.
Our latest news page gives providers lots of additional resources too.
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Experts by Experience needed at Inclusion Gloucestershire
Inclusion Gloucestershire's Quality Checking Team is expanding and have 4 x new zero hour positions available for Experts with lived experience of Mental ill health, Autism and / or Physical Disability.
Click here to view the Job Adverts and Application Forms.
If you have any questions about the roles, contact Becky Benson (Quality Checking Manager) either by email or 07889 213468.
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