Care Matters Weekly: Thursday 1 April 2021

This is the Care Matters Weekly update for Thursday 1 April 2021, including information on:

• Reopening Care Homes for visitors (Guidance for staff)
• Weekly checklist resource for Care Homes
• Visiting guidance posters for Care Homes
• Care Home IPC Champions meeting – 26 April
• Vaccinations save lives – VIDEO
• Supporting providers to recruit the best staff
• It’s easier than ever to get the COVID-19 vaccine
• Encompass contact details over Easter
• Local Pharmacy opening hours Easter 2021
• Second vaccine dose information for care staff
• Capacity Tracker webinar every week
• Weekly webinar to support Care Homes
• COVID-19 vaccine resources in community languages
• COVID-19 vaccine FAQs
• Subscribe to the Sutton Care Bulletin!
• Tell us what you think of the Sutton Care Hub
• Reminder: EU Settlement Scheme deadline is approaching
• Q&A with Care Homes
• Weekly Information Sharing FAQs, update from the CCG

There are updated testing Action Cards for Care Homes, Homecare and Outbreak Management available on the Sutton Care Hub.

Please share this information with your staff.

Reopening Care Homes to visitors (Guidance for staff) 

Visiting is crucially important for maintaining the health, wellbeing and quality of life of residents.

Welcoming anyone into care homes from the community inevitably brings risk of COVID-19 transmission. However, these risks can be managed and mitigated.

This video for staff helps explain the latest guidance. Please watch and share it.

Weekly checklist resource for Care Homes 

We have produced this weekly checklist to assist care providers in meeting all their requirements when it comes to COVID-19 procedures.

The checklist covers everything from testing and outbreak management to infection prevention control and even has reminders of regular meetings and webinars which require your attendance.

It can be checked off digitally, as an interactive PDF, or easily printed and worked through manually. There is a download link below.

We hope this proves useful in helping you meet the requirements and in handing over progress between staff.

Visiting guidance posters for Care Homes

We have produced these one page posters to remind you and your staff of the key considerations when arranging visits in or outside of your care home, in line with government guidance. 

Please make sure you are continuing to follow the rules regarding visits, practice good infection prevention control and carefully consider everyone’s safety when arranging visits. More information can be found on the two posters below.

Care Home IPC Champions meeting – 26 April

We look forward to welcoming all Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Champions to our very first meeting on Monday 26 April 2021 at 2-3pm.

The meeting is for all IPC Champions (old and new) across S W London and the aim of the session is to lay out the role and responsibilities and discuss the tools and support services available to you.

Email [email protected] to join.

Vaccinations save lives – VIDEO

Please watch this short video from London ADASS and share the link with your staff. 

#VaccinationsSaveLives

Supporting providers to recruit the best staff

We want to support you to recruit the best staff for all positions from management, to clinical staff, to carers, to administrative support. Therefore, we are currently working on a new section of the Sutton Care Hub focussed on recruitment.

The new Job Portal will list available jobs in the Care Sector from all providers across Sutton. Each care provider will have their own individual log in to post job vacancies. Candidates will be able to register and upload their CVs, or follow a link through to the provider’s website to apply for vacant posts. We want to make it easier for candidates to see all the opportunities which are available to them in Sutton, by putting them in one place. This will support our providers to get the right person for every role they have available. We will be working with you over the coming months to design the recruitment section of the site, including how it will link in to your existing websites / recruitment portals.

It’s easier than ever to get the COVID-19 vaccine

The St Nicholas Shopping Centre in Sutton has been unveiled as south west London’s latest NHS COVID-19 vaccination centre.

Sutton Council and NHS South West London CCG are making it easier and easier for care staff to get their vaccine to help Keep Sutton Safe.

The NHS has given over 2.5 million vaccinations across the capital – join the Londoners who have had their jab by booking your COVID vaccination appointment now. The sooner we get everyone vaccinated, the sooner we can get back to doing the things we love.

As a social care worker, you are eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.  If you haven’t booked your first dose yet, you can go online now to book your COVID vaccination appointment at nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or call 119.

You can now use the national booking service to arrange your vaccination appointments.

It’s vitally important you get your vaccine to keep yourself safe from the virus, to keep your families and colleagues safe, and to ensure those we care for are also protected.

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and will save lives. If you have any concerns about getting the vaccine, speak to your GP or a healthcare professional.

Encompass contact details over the Easter weekend

The Brokerage team will be open from Friday to Monday from 10.00 to 16.00 over the Easter weekend. The Brokerage contact details are:

Phone: 020 8915 2398 or 07783805699.

Email: [email protected] or [email protected] 

Local Pharmacy opening hours Easter 2021 

Bank Holidays can affect the opening hours of local pharmacies. The below document provides the opening hours for pharmacies in London which have been asked to open over the Easter Bank Holiday extended weekend. 

Please note that Saturday 3 April 2021 is not a bank holiday, however there will be some pharmacies who normally open who will be closed on this day. 

There may be additional pharmacies opening which are not listed. If the pharmacy you would like to visit is not listed here, then you can check their opening hours on the NHS website.

Second vaccine dose information for care staff 

To ensure that the vaccination programme is able to match availability of vaccine to the required vaccinations per site, it is essential that Health and Care workers return to the place where they received their first vaccine for the second dose.

Please do not accept a second dose vaccine at a different site. This will lead to a wastage of vaccine in hospital hubs and potentially a vaccine shortage in primary care.

For more information on this, please visit the Sutton Care Hub for a recent news update on the subject.

Capacity Tracker webinar every week

Capacity Tracker Webinars for Care Homes are taking place at 2:00pm every Friday.

Click here to join the meeting on your computer or mobile app 

Or call in (audio only) on +44 20 3794 0272

Phone Conference ID: 311 948 485#

Weekly webinar to support Care Homes

SW London CCG has organised a supportive webinar for Care Homes with COVID-19 outbreaks each Thursday between 1.00-1.40pm, which you should have all now been invited to.

Debbie Calver, Infection Prevention and Control Nurse Specialist will be available to answer any questions you may have.

The session is a safe place where you can drop in to discuss challenges you may be facing.

You do not need to stay for the whole session and you do not need to introduce yourself but we do ask if you can write your name in the chat box so that we can measure attendance.

COVID-19 vaccine resources in community languages 

NHS staff have recorded messages in some of the most commonly spoken languages – apart from English – in the capital to help ensure messages about the importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccine reach all Londoners.

If one of the featured languages is spoken by your staff, please consider sharing the videos (which are available to easily download) to encourage uptake of the vaccine. For ease, you could consider downloading and sharing via Whatsapp Web, which is a free version of the app on your desktop.

For more information, visit the news section of the Sutton Care Hub.

COVID-19 vaccine FAQs

As the vaccine continues to be rolled out across the Borough of Sutton, we know many of you are keen to be vaccinated, but that many of you also have questions about the vaccine. 

We have pulled together answers to the questions we hear most often. We will add to this as we hear from you. 

Please take the time to read the FAQs.

The COVID-19 vaccine pack for London Care Homes has also been updated.

Subscribe to the Sutton Care Bulletin! 

The Sutton Care Bulletin features a round up of good news stories and successes from across Sutton’s care sector, as well as useful information, guidance and resources. Please make sure you have subscribed to receive future editions.

An archive of previous editions can be found on the Sutton Care Hub.

Tell us what you think about the Sutton Care Hub 

As we move onto phases two and three of the website, we would like to get your feedback to ensure we are developing the Sutton Care Hub in a way which is most useful for you.

Please complete this short survey to let us know your thoughts.

Reminder: EU Settlement Scheme deadline fast approaching 

If you are an EU citizen, you need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if you want to continue to live, work and study in the UK after 30 June 2021.

The EU Settlement Scheme allows you to continue to live, work and study here in the UK. It means you will continue to be eligible for:

• public services, such as healthcare and schools
• public funds and pensions
• British citizenship, if you want to apply and meet the requirements

The deadline for applications is 30 June 2021. There’s more information available on the Sutton Care Hub.

Q&A with Care Homes

We are moving the Q&A sessions for all Care Homes to fortnightly to match the demand for sessions. Please see the Sutton Care Hub events calendar for which weeks the session is on. 

The session will give you an opportunity to ask questions and discuss situations arising due to COVID-19. The session is optional, and you can drop in and out of the session as you are available.

If you have any questions you would like to share in advance of the session please send to [email protected] and mark FOR Q&A LOG. Questions may be asked during the session which have not been submitted in advance, however please note we may need to come back to you with an answer at a later date.

Weekly Information Sharing FAQs, update from the CCG

We have daily Q&A sessions 3-4pm and 7-8pm where staff can come and raise questions on the COVID-19 vaccine. Clinicians will be available to help answer questions during those times. These sessions will be running at weekends too and can be accessed 

• via this link: Click here to join the meeting 
• or by dialling +44 20 3880 0300 or 0800 026 6146 (Freephone) and using the Phone Conference ID 354 457 979# 

You can access the previous webinars to watch on the COVID-19 Vaccine at the link below:

COVID-19 Q&A with Dr Agnelo Fernandes and COVID-19 experience shared by Erik Cortez

COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A with Dr Agnelo Fernandes, Dr Aditi Shah and COVID-19 experience shared by Vanessa Vyapooree

COVID-19 Vaccine Q&As with a Focus on Allergies and Health Conditions with Dr Paul Riley and Dr Vasa Gnanapragasam

Young Fit and Healthy, Why do I need the COVID-19 Vaccine? With Dr Paul Riley, Gassan Yacob and COVID-19 experience shared by Erik Cortez