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Care Matters Weekly: Friday 25 June 2021
Please share this information with your staff. Updated guidance Testing for adult social care staff and unpaid carers Care Homes Supported living Care Homes and Supported Living COVID-19 Vaccine COVID-19 […]
Published on 25/06/2021 in Children's services | News
Please share this information with your staff.
- Updated guidance
- COVID-19 Vaccine
- Reminder: EU Settlement Scheme deadline fast approaching (5 days remaining)
- Information sharing
- Webinars and Training
- Sutton Care Hub
Updated Guidance
Testing for adult social care staff and unpaid carers
This updated guidance, on how to access twice-weekly COVID-19 testing, applies to anyone working in adult social care in England, who is not part of a regular testing regime. It also applies to unpaid carers.
- For more information, sign up for live webinars, which will take you through the testing process. Each webinar includes a live Q&A session with the adult social care team.
- Sign up for the testing webinars
Care Homes
Organisation testing registration: record of users
- The multiple registration upload guidance has been updated. Added a note to say that from 1 July, all adult social care settings should use the new version of the record-keeping multiple registration spreadsheet.
- Please see the full guidance for more information
How to protect care home residents and staff during the coronavirus outbreak.
- Guidance has been updated to include VOC-21APR-02 [Delta variant] as a variant of concern.
- Updated to clarify that admissions into a care home from the community are able to take a test up to 72 hours in advance.
- Please see the full guidance for more information
Sets out how care homes can support families and visitors to visit residents.
- Updated the section ‘In the event of an outbreak in the care home’ to add the Delta variant as a variant of concern.
- Please see the full guidance for more information
How to protect care home residents and staff during the coronavirus outbreak.
- Admission and care of people in care homes’ has been updated throughout and a document has been added to summarise the changes. This update provides new information on visiting policy for residents attending medical appointments out of care homes, the role of essential care givers during a resident’s isolation period and the removal of the requirement for new residents from the community to isolate for 14 days upon admission into the care home provided they satisfy the criteria set out in guidance.
- Please see the full guidance for more information
Care home residents can stay overnight as visiting restrictions ease
- Care home residents will be able to spend more time with family and friends, including overnight stays as part of an easing of visiting restrictions.
- Currently, residents can only leave the care home for a visit if outdoors or for high-priority reasons, such as a dental or GP appointment, but will now be able to leave the home for more social reasons without having to isolate
- From 21 June, people admitted to a care home from the community will no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival, so residents will have a less disruptive introduction to their new home.
- To ensure this happens safely, residents will undergo an enhanced testing regime – a PCR test before admission, a PCR test on the day of admission and a further PCR test 7 days later.
- Please see the Full guidance for further information.
Supported Living
Guidance for providers of supported living settings.
- A substantive update which aligns guidance with other policy, including testing, infection prevention and control. Also includes additional information about visiting for individuals living in supported living, in line with national restriction
- Please see the Full guidance for further information.
Care Homes and Supported Living
Admissions guidance for care homes, local health protection teams, local authorities, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and registered providers of accommodation for people who need personal or nursing care
- The guidance has been updated. It sets out how to admit and care for residents safely and protect care home staff.
- Information on how to put local procedures in place to minimise COVID-19 infection risks for people in supported living settings has also been updated.
- Please see Overview of adult social care guidance on COVID-19 for further information.
COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 Vaccine rates – NHS Capacity Tracker
As you are aware the recommendation from SAGE is that care homes should have 90% vaccination rates among residents and 80% vaccination rates among staff for safety. However, not all of our care homes have reached these levels.
As we move to 19th July, we are working to ensure maximum vaccination uptake in Sutton. As part of this, please could you ensure that the data submitted to NHS Capacity Tracker is accurate in relation to staff employed, agency employed and vaccination numbers dose 1 and dose 2.
Thank you for your continued support and co-operation.
Care Home staff working must be fully COVID-19 vaccinated with both doses
Following an extensive public consultation with thousands of care staff, residents and families, from October 2021 (subject to parliamentary approval and a 16 week grace period), people working in CQC-registered care homes must have two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, unless they have a medical exemption.
This decision means care home residents and staff will be better protected from death and serious illness from COVID-19. It will apply to all workers employed directly by the care home or care home provider (on a full-time or part-time basis), those employed by an agency, and volunteers.
Those coming into care homes to do other work, for example healthcare workers, tradespeople, hairdressers and beauticians, and CQC inspectors, will also have to follow the new regulations, unless they are likewise medically exempt. A further consultation will be launched on whether to extend this new requirement to other health and social care settings and will also consider inclusion of the flu vaccine.
Book your COVID-19 vaccination here
The below text is taken from Making vaccination a condition of deployment in care homes: government response
Scope of the policy
We note the calls for staff caring for younger adults with people with a learning disability and autistic people or other vulnerabilities to be treated in the same way as staff caring for older adults. We recognise that respondents and stakeholders made the case that, if the policy were to proceed, it should be broadened to cover these groups. The case for broadening the scope has also been advocated by representatives of the learning disability sector. Analysis by Public Health England[footnote 7] showed that the pattern and number of deaths in care homes for people with a learning disabilities and autistic people (which are typically small, often with less than 10 beds) in the spring of 2020 was similar to the number of deaths in small care homes registered for other groups (mainly older people).
Change 1: We are extending the scope of the policy to all CQC-registered care homes, in England, which provide accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, not just those care homes which have at least one person over the age of 65 living in their home.
Read more at: Making vaccination a condition of deployment in care homes: government response
Walk in Vaccine centre (Health & Social Care Staff ONLY) – St Nicholas Shopping Centre
The coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective and remains our best protection against Covid-19 and the surest route to a return to normal life. Across Sutton, we have now delivered over 100,000 vaccinations.
If you are a front-line health or care worker you are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination, but haven’t got around to booking your appointment, come along to the St Nicholas Shopping Centre, you do not need an appointment.
Please bring proof of employment like your work ID badge and a letter from your employer to confirm your eligibility as a front-line health or care worker. Front-line health and social care staff can use the National Booking System to book a specific appointment at a wide range of vaccine centres aswell. You can do this by visiting this webpage or by calling 119. The full list of South West London vaccination centres is available here.
| St Nicholas Shopping Centre, SM1 1AY is open 8am – 6:30pm. |
The site can be accessed at two main doors at either end of the centre with both entrances being suitable for wheelchairs. It can also be reached from the St Nicholas car park which has a walkway across the main road with direct access to the first floor of the centre. Lifts are also available.
COVID-19 vaccine webinar clips online
You can now download short clips from a recent interactive webinar with Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, and Dr Nikita Kanani, Director of Primary Care at NHS England (pictured). In each video, they answer care colleagues’ questions about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
Use these clips across your channels to reassure and inform your colleagues yet to have their first or second doses.
Download the webinar clips here
Reminder: EU Settlement Scheme deadline fast approaching (5 days remaining)
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
With less than 4 weeks to go, Leader of the Council, Ruth Dombey, urges EU citizens currently living in Sutton to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Information sharing
What are the appropriate mitigations to deploy in care homes in the context of the post vaccination risk landscape?
Please see the full paper prepared by the Social Care Working Group (SCWG) for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
Feedback on IPC training
SWLCCG have collected some feedback on the benefits of IPC training to share:
- This training will give you the information required to prevent or manage outbreaks in your care home
- It`s free and led by infection prevention and control specialists with years of practice in the field
- You will be informed of the best evidence-based practice and the latest guidance from Gov.uk and other relevant research
- You and your staff will be introduced to the principles of good Infection Prevention and Control practice
- You will be included in a network of professionals including the IPC team and other care home managers and staff. This way, you and your staff will have access to:
- IPC Championship programme- ongoing support and training for care home staff
- Broadcast group- bite sized chunks of IPC advice and guidance straight to Champion phone
- [email protected] helpline
- Alternative IPC training on offer for staff
- Access to IPC Audit tool to ensure good quality and safe care
- Your staff will have increased knowledge and confidence in managing the IPC protocols
- You can evidence best practice for CQC inspections
Weekly Information Sharing FAQs from SWLCCG
Attached to this email you will find:
- Weekly information sharing FAQS
- SWL Individualised Care Plan Action Letter for Care Home Managers: (Thank you to those who have already responded to the form attached in this letter, This Form needs to be completed and submitted by all SWL care homes ASAP.)
You can also access the form on your phone using the QR code above
- Updated COVID-19 one to one Vaccination hesitancy pack
- Letter to Vaccine hesitant staff
- Slides from presentations from this week
You may be aware the Delta variant is the most predominant COVID-19 strain circulating in the UK at present.
Cases of infection have been increasing in South West London.
Vaccinations have now opened up to all adults over 18.
The recommendation from SAGE (the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies) is that care homes should have 90% vaccination rates among residents and 80% vaccination rates among staff, for safety.
However, not all homes in London have reached these levels. We recognise the challenges that providers are facing in this, despite your significant work to date.
As we move to the 19th July, the NHS and councils in London are working to ensure maximum vaccination uptake across London, so that all people can be protected from Covid 19 when restrictions are lifted. As part of this, we are reaching out to you to offer further support to reach the SAGE safety thresholds.
We would like to develop an individualised plan with you for your home, agreed by you, you may have already been contacted or submitted the form attached in the link above. Thank you for responding if you have already done so.
We want to understand the issues that you are facing and work with you to identify any additional support you need.
COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A: What are your real Questions?
30th June 2021 at 2-3pm
Invitation to Care Home Staff, Domiciliary Care Staff, Care Home Agency Staff and their families.
We are delighted to be joined by two South West London Clinicians Associate Director and Chief Pharmacist Sedina Agama
and Partner and Clinical Lead Doctor Paul Riley
If you have any questions regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine you can ask them in the session via audio or within the ‘Teams’ Chat. You may also email questions in advance to:
[email protected] which will then be raised anonymously during the session.
All questions are welcome to be asked; chances are if you are thinking it so are others.
In this forum, you will be able to get the most accurate evidence-based answers and information or signposting to where you can.
We look forward to supporting you in receiving reliable honest information about the COVID-19 Vaccine.
Please share this invitation more widely to your Colleagues and Families.
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Or call in (audio only)
+44 20 3880 0300,,928275416# United Kingdom, London
Phone Conference ID: 928 275 416#
Find a local number | Reset PIN
Any questions around COVID-19 Vaccines please do not hesitate to contact: Care [email protected]
Please click link below to access the next Information Sharing Webinar for Care Homes on Tuesday 29th June 2021 at 11am until 12 noon.
+44 20 3880 0300 United Kingdom, London (Toll)
Conference ID: 855 305 74#
Local numbers | Reset PIN | Learn more about Teams | Meeting options
—
Thank you very much to those of you who attended this week’s Information Sharing Webinar for Care Homes.
Attached to this email you will find:
- Weekly information sharing FAQS,
- Letter to all care homes from NHSE&I and ADAASS,
- Updated COVID-19 one to one Vaccination hesitancy pack,
- Slides from presentations from this week Digital and Training offers.
You may be aware the Delta variant is the most predominant COVID-19 strain circulating in the UK at present.
Cases of infection have been increasing in South West London.
Vaccinations have now opened up to all adults over 18.
The recommendation from SAGE (the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies) is that care homes should have 90% vaccination rates among residents and 80% vaccination rates among staff, for safety.
However, not all homes in London have reached these levels. We recognise the challenges that providers are facing in this, despite your significant work to date.
As we move to the 19th July, the NHS and councils in London are working to ensure maximum vaccination uptake across London, so that all people can be protected from Covid 19 when restrictions are lifted. As part of this, we are reaching out to you to offer further support to reach the SAGE safety thresholds. With that in mind, you will shortly be contacted by your care home liaison link officer.
We would like to develop an individualised plan with you for your home, agreed by you, in the coming days that will support you to achieve the SAGE standards.
We want to understand the issues that you are facing and work with you to identify any additional support you need.
Any questions around COVID-19 Vaccines please do not hesitate to contact: Care [email protected]
Please click link below to access the next Information Sharing Webinar for Care Homes on Tuesday 22nd June 2021 at 11am until 12 noon.
+44 20 3880 0300 United Kingdom, London (Toll)
Conference ID: 855 305 74#
Local numbers | Reset PIN | Learn more about Teams | Meeting options
Visual guides for the ASC ‘How to Work Safely’ PPE guidance
Working in conjunction with key stakeholders, Public Health England recently updated the How to Work Safely in Care Homes in England and How to Work Safely in Domiciliary care in England PPE guidance. The accompanying visual guides have been updated to further support care workers to follow the updated PPE guidance and good infection prevention control measures, in conjunction with local policies. The guides outline what PPE to wear, when, and how.
Updated visuals:
- Putting on PPE home carer / Putting on PPE Care Homes – New infographic merges the two previously published guides; content and advice is mirrored for the two sectors.
- Taking off PPE home carer/ Taking off PPE Care Homes – New infographic merges the two previously published guides; content and advice is mirrored for the two sectors.
- PPE guide for community and social care settings including care homes: What PPE to wear and when – an illustrative guide – New illustrative guide merged to include advice for care homes, community care and other social care settings.
Please see the new visual guides.
New Infection prevention control campaign toolkit launched
Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Deborah Sturdy, has launched a new campaign, ‘Every Action Counts: Because I Care’, stressing the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures for care providers, staff and visitors. The comprehensive toolkit features posters, digital assets and social media posts to help care providers reinforce local messages. For some personal reflections on the importance of IPC, do make sure you visit the DHSC Social Care blog. More resources will be available over the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
PPE End User Survey
Please complete : Survey for providers who use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – PPE Distribution Customer Satisfaction survey – DH eXchange (kahootz.com)
This survey will, provide useful information on the following important areas:
- Just a general understanding of the sector, which we often do not have direct contact with
- Gathering information on future options for the PPE portal
- Understanding what items of PPE they are missing that DHSC should be offering
- Understanding the fit-testing landscape better
- Feedback on protected characteristics and inequalities that effect PPE use
- Just ways to generally improve the experience of PPE for all
Webinars and training
Trainee Nursing Associate (TNA) Webinars
The sessions will give employers and potential applicants more information about the role, such as funding and the application process.
To join us, please click on the link to register for one of the dates below:
IPC Champion meeting for Care Homes
You do not need to have been to the first two to access this one. The meeting is open to ALL IPC leads or Champions in Care Homes. Care Homes will have received an email with joining instructions.
Skills for Care London & SE team will be running a virtual roadshow
The event will run on Tuesday 13th July 10:00am – 12:30pm and cover:
- Practical tips and guidance for ensuring the continued wellbeing of your staff
- Local initiatives that can support your recruitment
- How to re-establish – and build – local partnerships.
There will also be an update from CQC
Weekly Capacity Tracker webinar
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#
Sutton Care Hub
Sutton Care Hub Posters
We want all staff, at all levels to access the Sutton Care Hub and utilise the resources on offer. To help us advertise the hub please download and display the below Sutton Care Hub poster.
Sutton Care Hub Job Portal
To support Sutton’s care providers to recruit the best staff for all positions from management, to clinical staff, carers and administrative support, we have created the Sutton Care Hub Job Portal.
Take one minute to provide feedback on how you would like to receive candidate applications from the hub.
We have developed posters to advertise the hub, please see below.
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.
Keep up to date
Subscribe to the Sutton Care Bulletin for regular updates on the big news and latest guidance from the Sutton Care Hub.