Care Matters Special: National Lockdown, January 2020

This is a special Care Matters Weekly update for Tuesday 5 January 2021 following the move to National Lockdown, including information on:

• School closures and key worker status
• Hands. Face. Space.
• Testing for Care Home staff
• Vaccinations for Homecare staff
• Vaccinations for Care Home residents
• Care Home visiting
• Supported Living and Extra Care services
• Day Service Providers
• Provider reporting

School Closures

A reminder that as in the previous national lockdown: All staff delivering social care including office and admin staff are classed as critical workers and therefore are able to secure a school place for their children.  Please ensure that all your staff are aware of this.

Hands. Face. Space.

We ask that you remind your staff of the basics when out in the community to reduce the spread of the virus

Remember: ‘Hands. Face. Space.’

• hands – wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds
• face – wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult, and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet
• space – stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with where possible, or 1 metre with extra precautions in place (such as wearing face coverings)

More details can be found here on the Sutton Care Hub.

Testing for Care Home Staff

Following a significant rise in infections, attributed to the rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus, we have updated our guidance on staff testing for all care homes in England.

This additional testing will be using the lateral flow device (LFD) tests. In addition to the current regular PCR testing regime, There is no change to testing for residents. More information can be found here

Vaccinations for Homecare staff

Vaccinations are now available for all homecare staff, please encourage your staff to access the vaccine.  To register please complete this referral form and send to [email protected]

Vaccination for Care Home Residents

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised the first priority group for receipt of COVID vaccination are residents in care homes for older adults and their carers. This is to protect both residents and staff.

We need to prepare for when the vaccine is able to be given to care home residents – we expect that vaccination in care homes will start w/c 11January 2021.  In order to prepare for the rollout, we suggest that:

• You talk to residents and those important to them about the vaccine
• You may want to include information about the vaccine in newsletters to relatives
• Consent grouping – provisionally group residents into three categories to help prepare staff who will be giving the vaccine:
  • Residents who are likely to have capacity to consent
  • Residents who have or may require a Legal Power of Attorney to consent on their behalf
  • Residents who may need a best interest decision made on their behalf

The Sutton Care Hub COVID-19 Vaccine page has the latest information and resources such as consent forms for you to download.

Visiting Care Homes

Visits to care homes can take place with arrangements such as substantial screens, visiting pods, or behind windows. Close-contact indoor visits are not allowed. No visits will be permitted in the event of an outbreak.

You should check the guidance on visiting care homes during COVID-19 to find out how visits should be conducted. Residents cannot meet people indoors on a visit out (for example, to visit their relatives in the family home).

Supported Living and Extra care visits

We have updated the COVID-19: guidance for supported living for up-to-date advice on visiting found here. The guidance is primarily for supported living settings, but many of the principles are applicable to extra care housing for older people.

Update for Day Service Providers

Day Services were previously categorised as a Support Group, we are assuming that this continues to be the position. 

While Day Services can remain open, it will be up to the individual organisations to make a decision based on their own risk assessments as to whether the service can continue to be provided safely, for their staff and clients. It will also need to be the decision of the client (and Carers), in line with the Mental Capacity Act, as to whether they wish to continue to attend the service during this time (Further guidance regarding this is available from SCIE). 

We will continue to update the Sutton Care Hub information for Day Services with the latest information and resources – 

If you are making the decision to close or reduce your service, please do contact us as soon as possible. 

Please also be aware of the changes in shielding arrangements for the clinically extremely vulnerable, as this may impact some of your clients or their family members that attend the service. 

Provider Reporting

In order to respond in the very best way possible during the COVID-19 pandemic and understand the impact of COVID-19 on the people being cared for, their staff and their ability to deliver services, the collection of data is imperative to ensure resources are targeted most effectively where they are needed.

Please ensure you continue to report through the relevant system as normal.