September 2022 edition

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.

NHS updates 

Updates from the Southwest Learning Disability and Autism Programme Bulletin (August 2022) Click here to see the full bulletin.

Important update: Autumn COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine programme

As you will hopefully know by now, the Government accepted final Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice setting out which priority groups should be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine this autumn.

What does this mean from a learning disability and autism perspective? We can confirm that people aged 5 and over on the GP learning disability register are eligible for the COVID-19 autumn booster vaccine following updated Green Book guidance. Please advise and promote this locally, ensuring everyone on the GP learning disability register and their carers are offered the COVID-19 autumn booster vaccination.

From an adult health and social care perspective, these groups include residents and staff in care homes for older adults and other frontline health and social care workers.

Click here to read the Autumn COVID-19 booster and flu system letter for more detail about the roll-out of the COVID-19 booster and flu campaigns. The flu programme begins on 1 September (with visits to care homes, which will be primarily COVID-19 focused, from 5 September) and the autumn booster campaign formally begins on 12 September.

NHS England has made a host of materials and assets available from the Campaign Resource Centre, click here to access them. Additional regional resources to support and bolster your local campaigns are under production.

Supporting uptake of flu vaccination

As part of our aim to reduce premature mortality amongst people with a learning disability, we ask colleagues to review innovative approaches utilised during COVID-19 vaccination roll out and consider similar utilisation for flu vaccination; including: utilising the many more vaccinators available to the system, their knowledge and skills about people with a learning disability and their need for reasonable adjustments, to ensure successful vaccination. Click here to see more information about reasonable adjustments. 

Supporting uptake of outstanding CYP COVID vaccination

A call to action to continue supporting children and young people who are at risk of being very unwell from COVID-19 to get their vaccines. Parents and carers are receiving reminder invitations about their child's COVID-19 vaccine, please support families to get their vaccines too.

Supporting uptake of outstanding CYP COVID vaccination

A call to action to continue supporting children and young people who are at risk of being very unwell from COVID-19 to get their vaccines. Parents and carers are receiving reminder invitations about their child's COVID-19 vaccine, please support families to get their vaccines too.

NHS Easy Read Newsletter

Please find the “Getting your health checked, Easy read newsletter” to share with your residents. In this newsletter Getting your health checked. Is it time to go to the dentist? Getting your eyes checked. Getting your ears checked. If you have a problem with your local health service. Click the button below to access the newsletter

Call To Action

Re-commissioning the Gloucestershire Health and Social Care Frameworks

As many of you know, we have started to look forward at how the Gloucestershire Health and Social Care Frameworks will look when the current contract ends in March 2024.

We would like to start engagement with providers and have put together a survey which will be sent out very soon. This is a starting point for our engagement and in order to improve the offer in Gloucestershire, we would love to hear your feedback.

If you have any questions then please feel free to contact Christine on christine.slade@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Fair Cost of Care Exercise

Our sincere thanks to those who have already submitted their Fair Cost of Care return.

For those who have not yet submitted: please be aware that you still can! We would like to understand as much as we can about our care market and are happy to continue accepting data. If you are in the process of completing the return and feel you need help or time, please get in touch at faircostofcare@gloucestershire.gov.uk, or directly to James Cuthbert: james@sphereadvisory.co.uk, 07949 114 003.

Support

You can find a page of FAQs, responding to your questions, on the Council’s Provider Information Website click here to access. For the current FAQ document click here.

You can also find guidance at DHSC; the Local Government Association; Gloucestershire Care Providers Association; and the companies that provide the costing tools, ARCC and iESE:

• For LGA’s FAQs click here
• For ARCC’s template and guidance for home care click here
• For iESE’s guidance site for CareCubed (residential care for older people) click here

Gloucestershire Care Providers Association are offering assistance to any provider who is unable to access answers from above: www.gcpa.co.uk T: 01452 767664 E: @Riki Moody Riki.moody@gcpa.co.uk

Mental Capacity Assessments

Elisha Pitarella from the Gloucestershire County Council Quality Team and Simon Thomason (Mental Capacity Act Governance Manager) are working on implementing new best practice guidance’s to support providers when completing Mental Capacity Assessments. They would like your input from a provider perspective as to what relevant content you feel would benefit their learning when completing capacity assessments. If you have any suggestions, please contact Elisha at elisha.pitarella@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Information 

Gloucestershire Health and Social Care Frameworks 2020-4 Round 4

The Gloucestershire Health and Social Care Framework 2020-4 is now open for round 4 and we encourage all providers to apply.

This framework covers the following Lots:

• Lot 1: Supported Living (Non-Complex)
• Lot 2: Supported Living (Complex)
• Lot 3: Floating Support for Children & Young People
• Lot 4: Forensic Support Services
• Lot 5a: Domiciliary Care, and Lot 5b Domiciliary Care Complex

If you have not already registered with Procontract, please click here to find out how to sign up.

If you have any queries, please contact Christine on christine.slade@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Information for Carers

Two new booklets have been developed  with Gloucestershire Carers Hub and Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC) to support carers, families and friends of people who have contact with the services provided by GHC.

This booklet contains help and advice for carers which can be found by clicking on the button below.

This booklet contains help and advice for mental health carers which can be found by clicking on the button below.

Brokerage Systems

Brokerage Systems

• Providers to advise when an Out of county moves in or out of a property through the Provider Portal.  You can speak to your nominated Account Manager for advice and guidance on how to do this.
• For ECM providers that use CM Mobile, when a new carer starts, ensure that their Mobile is set to UK.  If unsure of how to do this, you can contact Access Group support who will be able to offer further guidance.

Acceptable Use of systems

A reminder for all those with user accounts for either of the following systems:

• CallConfirmLive!/Finance Manager for Electronic Call Monitoring,
• ContrOCC Provider Porta

The sharing of user account login details is strictly prohibited and any instances of this will be reported to our Data Protection team.

If you need assistance with user accounts / passwords for these systems please contact brokeragesystems@gloucestershire.gov.uk

***NEVER SHARE YOUR LOGIN DETAILS WITH ANYONE ELSE***

LeDeR

LeDeR Annual Report We are pleased to say that the 2022 LeDeR Annual Report for Gloucestershire has now been published. The full report and an Easy Read version can now be downloaded from the Inclusion Gloucestershire LeDeR webpage. Click here to access the webpage.  We hope you find the report interesting and informative.

Proud to Care Team Updates

Forest of Dean recruitment initiative Proud to Care are putting together a Communication Plan and Strategy to carry out a targeted recruitment campaign in the Forest of Dean We will be working with providers to create digital and physical leaflets and posters, and sharing reels and clips promoting the care sector on social media We are in the process of editing a campaign video filmed with providers: watch this space! We have piloted a new locality based jobs board with Glos Jobs; if you have any roles vacant in the Forest of Dean and would like to get involved, please email the team at ptc@gloucestershire.gov.uk.  To see the jobs board click here.

New mental health self-check and referral tool for anyone working in health and social care

• A new, free & confidential mental health self-check tool has been launched to support the health and social care workforce. Developed by NHS England, the tool enables anyone working in health and social care – both within the NHS and outside of it - to assess themselves anonymously.
• Results can be kept private or shared within the tool to access professional support from The Wellbeing Line – your Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub in Gloucestershire. Click here for more information. 
• Click here to access the tool. 

Recruitment Event in Cheltenham for Health and Care Support Workers

• One Gloucestershire has agreed to carry out a joint recruitment event for Health  & Care Support Workers (HSCWs) on the 28^th September 2022 at Cheltenham Race Course.
• Working with the recruitment company Indeed, and building on other national pilots around the country, we are aiming to recruit 350 new to health & care HSCWs across the system through this single event. 
• Clinical staff, recruitment teams and education and training staff from across the system will come together on the day  to host a Learning Zone for interested candidates and to run a shared  and simplified recruitment process.  The event will run all day.
• During the first half of  September we will begin to publicise the event on social media and are working  with all our Communication Teams to heavily market and promote the event to attract new to health and social care colleagues.  Further details will be shared in due course.
• If you have any further queries, please contact  Sophie Atkins via Email on:  Sophie-Elizabeth.Atkins@GHC.NHS.UK

Safeguarding

NHS Safeguarding App The NHS Safeguarding app has been developed to act as a comprehensive resource for healthcare professionals, carers and citizens. It provides 24-hour, mobile access on up to date legislation and guidance across the safeguarding life course. The app also provides information on how to report a safeguarding concern and even has a directory of safeguarding contacts for every local authority in England, searchable by region. It can be accessed via Apple iOS, Google Play or it can be downloaded by visiting your device’s appropriate app store and searching for ‘NHS Safeguarding’.

Training 

NHS Screening Awareness Training

Free awareness training for all staff in all care service areas to increase the uptake of NHS screening programmes. A series of 90-minute, free, training sessions are being run with the ultimate aim of increasing uptake of NHS screening programmes for individuals with a learning disability and autistic people. The sessions intend to increase knowledge and understanding of three NHS screening programmes:

• Cancer Screening Programmes (Bowel Breast and Cervical)
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)
• Diabetic Eye Screening.

Upcoming training dates include:

• Wednesday 05/10/2022 10:30am to 12:00 pm
• Monday 10/10/2022 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
• Thursday 03/11/2022 10:30 am to 12:00 pm
• Friday 18/11/2022 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
• Wednesday 07/12/2022 10:30 am to 12:00 pm
• Monday 19/12/2022 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Click here to register.