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October 2020 edition
Welcome to the 6th 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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Thank you for the sacrifices you have all made to help keep your loved ones safe. We must continue to take action, and minimise the spread of Covid.
Sarah Scott (Director of Public Health for Gloucestershire), supported by the C19 Tactical Response Group, has reviewed the latest care home visiting guidance (19 October), assessed the risk from Covid circulating in the community and has agreed that care home visiting should be suspended at this time.
The new guidance is part of a number of steps that we are taking to slow the spread of the virus in Gloucestershire. The six step plan, can be viewed here.
This includes plans to write to those on the shielded list. If a resident who lives in your home is also on the shielded list, they should defer to the advice in this letter.
In cases where, sadly, residents are considered to be end of life, visiting arrangements can, and should, still be made in a safe and managed way. Please let us know if we can support you in facilitating this.
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Letters have been sent out to all providers and you can access a copy here. Family and friends have also been sent a letter which you can access here.
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Gloucestershire has been actively involved in the LeDeR programme and this report focusses on 2019-2020 and is the second local annual report on the learning from deaths of those with learning disabilities within Gloucestershire. The report covers from 1st January 2017 up until 31st March 2020. The Gloucestershire LeDeR Programme (as at 31st March 2020) had completed 86.1% of notified reviews (reviews received up to and including 31st March 2020), this compares to only 45% in the South West and 52% in England. Gloucestershire has continually over the last 12 months been in the top 15 LeDeR local programmes for completed reviews.
Key Findings
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Ratio of grading of care 2019-2020 (n=46 reviews) The ratio of the grading of care has improved from 8:10 people receiving satisfactory or better care to 9:10 people in 2019-2020.
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Where people died Of the 46 deaths reported in Gloucestershire during 2019-2020, 43% died in hospital – compared to 46% in the general population (meaning that 3% fewer people with a learning disability died in hospital)
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Causes of death The top cause remains respiratory (14 deaths in 2019-2020) – mainly pneumonia type infections.
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End of life plan in place – 56% (18 deaths) had an active end of life plan in place (this compared to 46% nationally). 64% of the 46 deaths were expected and planned for deaths.
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National Summary of Covid deaths (attached presentation) - Professor Pauline Heslop from the University of Bristol has invited us to share this summary of LeDeR findings from the first 50 COVID-19 related deaths. These findings are in addition to the latest national LeDeR annual review, which can be found here.
- Conclusions from this national study
- Mobility impairments and/or mental health needs may be proxy indicators of people at risk of catching the virus, or may underpin prejudicial attitudes towards care, treatment and judgements about ceilings of care.
- It would seem appropriate to consider people with learning disabilities and epilepsy as being at increased risk of death from the virus and pay attention to protecting them.
- The key symptoms of COVID19 in the general population (fever, new continuous cough, loss of sense of smell or taste) may not be as apparent in people with learning disabilities.
- The use of DNACPR decisions and the initiation of palliative/end of life care should be monitored to ensure that this population is not being disadvantaged.
- Close attention needs to be paid to safe and appropriate hospital discharge planning. One in five of the completed reviews indicated that the person had previously been discharged from hospital, only to be readmitted again soon afterwards.
- Additional resourcing for specialist learning disabilities staffing and expertise in primary and secondary care appears to be indicated from the findings of this small study.
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“Soft signs” are particularly valuable where individuals have difficulties in communicating when they are feeling unwell or in pain. RESTORE2TM includes the National Early Warning Score tool (NEWS2) and this is suitable for all adults over the age of 16 (except pregnant women).
RESTORE2TM includes training on taking physical observations, including using pulse oximeters, and calculating the NEWS2 (national early warning score) and is suitable for all non-registered care staff, as well as being a refresher or upskilling for registered staff. It builds on the learning from the RESTORE2 mini session. Book here
The train-the-trainer session will give those who have responsibility for training and supporting others the skills and confidence to deliver RESTORE2TM and mini sessions. Book here
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From November 2020, the Provider Portal is the way the Integrated Brokerage team will communicate with you in future about the care we’ve commissioned for individuals.
The Provider Portal is a new tool for us to manage how we:
- Exchange and amend contracts electronically for the care we have purchased for individuals;
- Share the financial information we hold about packages of care and payments we will make e.g. purchase orders, scheduled payments/remittance as applicable; and
- Manage the queries you normally send to us e.g. about contracts, care monitoring and payment.
Take a look at the leaflet here for more information about the benefits
To get going with the system, we need a nominated Lead Correspondent from each organisation. When we go live, this person will be responsible for requesting additional user accounts for colleagues who will have their own logins and share use of the Portal, if they have a business need to.
We have sent emails to key contacts we hold for each organisation on our contract management system. We’ll continue to send pre-registration information to Providers right up until our launch week commencing 2nd November 2020,
If you haven’t been hearing directly from us by email but believe you should be the Lead Correspondent for your organisation, please contact us at: brokeragesystems@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
From December 2020 if you contact Brokerage via email we will ask you to complete your registration with the Provider Portal and redirect your query through the new system.
Questions? Take a look at the FAQs or contact us at brokeragesystems@gloucestershire.gov.uk if your query is not answered there.
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The Gloucestershire Suicide Prevention Partnership are very pleased to announce that the GloW Community Grants is now live.
The porgramme will invest in community led and based activities that address the things that contribute to our mental wellbeing and help improve our mental health, e.g. social connections and networks, physical health, and access to green spaces. It will focus on activities that promote good mental health and wellbeing, reduce isolation, and support the prevention of suicide and self harm in those most likely to be affected.
The programme will last for three years, with a yearly budget of £50, 000 and individual funding awards of up to £5, 000.
You can find out more, including the timescales and access the Guidelines and Application Form here.
If you would like to discuss your idea or find out more about the programme, please contact the GloW Community Grants team here
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Proud to Care Fast Track Recruitment
Proud to Care Gloucestershire is continuing to offer a fast track recruitment process to support providers to maintain safe staffing during COVID-19 and winter pressures.
Our new digital marketing campaign is launching later this month to attract those who are out of work or looking for a career change. The campaign will direct individuals to apply through Proud to Care’s new e-recruitment system where they will go through a values based recruitment process. Successful candidates will be match with providers based on their values and ethos and providers can then choose what other recruitment activities Proud to Care undertake on your behalf.
For more information on our flexible packages please read our provider update and frequently asked questions.
If your organisation has not yet signed up or would like to update us on your current recruitment / staffing requirements please complete the recruitment availability form and return it to the Proud to Care team - ptc@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
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Kickstart Scheme
The Government’s new Kickstart initiative aims to support young people in to work during these challenging times. The scheme presents fantastic opportunities for employers to attract young people to join the social care workforce. Gloucestershire County Council is in the process of becoming an intermediary / gateway for the scheme meaning that employers within the county will not need to submit their own bids for the funding to the Department of Work and Pension’s.
What is the criteria?
- The job placements must be new jobs, i.e. that cannot replace existing or planned vacancies or cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment.
- You must offer a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months and pay at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group.
What is the funding available?
- Funding is available for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum pensions automatic enrolment contributions.
Where do applicants come from?
- Applicants will be young people 16-24 in receipt of Universal Credit
- Kickstart placement vacancies will be advertised only via DWP
- You will be able to select amongst those introduced, having set out the job description for each placement
- We are planning on Holding Proud to care Sector Based work Academies to prepare individuals to start their placement
At Proud to Care we see this as a great opportunity to support the social care sector and are working with colleagues at the council to support providers to access this opportunity. If your organisation would be interested in finding out more about the scheme and expressing interest in offering a Kickstart placement please get in touch with the team on ptc@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
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As some of you are aware, we have been implementing the new CM Mobile application to rollout across providers using ECM. If you have yet to implement the CM Mobile application, your relevant ECM Officer will be contacting you to have a brief chat about the application, or alternatively please email ecm@gloucestershire.gov.uk for more information.
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iPad Offer to Care Homes from NHSx/DHSC
NHSx and the Department of Health and Social Care are distributing 11,000 iPads to Care Homes across England to support remote health consultations. The aim is to target those care homes which are in greatest need. Details are below. Please consider applying for an iPad for your Care Home if you feel this would enhance your service.
Eligibility criteria To qualify for a device, care homes must:
- Be at least partially NHS and/or local authority funded (care homes whose residents are entirely privately funded will be out of scope). Both care homes supporting older people and those with disabilities are in scope.
- Complete a short order form
- Have less than one Apple or Android tablet device per 40 residents (some care homes may be eligible for more than one device).What will care homes receive?:
Timeline
- Late Sept 2020: Care homes informed about offer and invited to apply through order form.
- From Oct 2020: NHSX analyses order form data, shares with local authority and NHS partners. Orders begin to be processed.
- Nov- Dec 2020: Devices delivered. Training webinars for care homes held.Application for an iPad
- Care homes need to apply on or before 23 October. This is the link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/NHSX_iPad_offer/
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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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