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Care Matters Weekly: Friday 3 December 2021
Mandatory face coverings in public places, Omicron confirmed in Sutton, digital skills webinars next week, fire risk assessments in people's homes, falls prevention tech funding and more. Please share.
Published on 3/12/2021 in Adult services | Care Matters Weekly | Children's services | Covid-19 | Job Portal | News | Weekly Information Sharing FAQs | Workforce
Mandatory face coverings, Omicron confirmed in Sutton, digital skills webinars next week, fire risk assessments in people’s homes, falls prevention tech funding and more. Please share.
- COVID-19
- Mandatory facemasks in public places
- Face coverings: when to wear one, exemptions, recycle or make your own
- Omicron variant confirmed in Sutton
- Get your winter vaccine and Capacity Tracker reminder
- COVID-19: arranging or attending a funeral or commemorative event
- Send us your COVID-19 vaccination videos!
- Adult Social Care recruitment and Workforce Development
- Information sharing
- Webinars and Training
- Sutton Care Hub
COVID-19
Mandatory facemasks in public places
From 30 November, unless exempt, it is now mandatory to wear a facemask in public places such as on public transport, in shop, pharmacies and transport hubs.
Face coverings: when to wear one, exemptions, and how to make your own
In other indoor settings where a face covering is not legally required, you should still continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you may come into contact with other people you do not normally meet.
Some people, including children under 11, are exempt from having to wear face coverings in any setting. Furthermore, anyone with a health condition or disability, which means they cannot wear a face covering, has a reasonable excuse for not wearing a face covering.
Read the full list of places where face coverings are mandatory, exemptions, how to make or recycle face coverings and more.
Omicron variant confirmed in Sutton
The emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the UK has already been seen locally, with an identified case in Sutton.
All contacts of suspected Omicron cases must self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their vaccination status. They will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
Read the full government announcement about the Omicron variant
Get your winter vaccine and Capacity Tracker
Reminder – How to get your Winter Vaccines – take up of the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters is still low in Sutton – please make sure you book yours when you are called by the NHS.
Reminder – please make sure that you update the Capacity Tracker
COVID-19: arranging or attending a funeral or commemorative event
Guidance has been issued on attending funerals during COVID-19, which applies to professionals who may be involved in arranging or managing a funeral or commemorative event. For the purposes of this guidance, the phrase ‘commemorative event’ includes events and rituals such as stone setting ceremonies, the scattering of ashes, and wakes. Such events may take place before or following the funeral.
Those involved in arranging or managing such events should see the working safely guidance.
Send us your COVID-19 vaccination videos!
Now that the mandatory vaccines deadline has passed, we would like to feature staff in a mini-campaign, highlighting the role they have played in getting vaccinated to keep residents and the community safe. The video will be used by the Council to help encourage local residents to take up the COVID-19 vaccine and testing programme.
The videos will be posted on the Council’s social media channels until early next year – when the NHS deadline falls. We would also like to disseminate to our voluntary groups to share with their members.
If you would like to get involved and showcase your wonderful staff and the care they are taking to help keep residents safe, please talk to your care home manager to get more details. Hope to see you on social!
Download the permissions form and our script ideas to help you.
Adult social care recruitment and workforce development
Government launches new ten-year vision for adult social care
A new ten-year vision for adult social care just published by the government.
The white paper is part of the government’s wider social care plans, backed by £5.4 billion, which, for the first time, provides a limit to the cost of care for everyone in the adult social care system, and significantly increases state support.
The government has set out further details on how over £1 billion for system reform will be spent over the next three years to improve the lives of those who receive care – as well as their families and carers.
Read the government White Paper
Making the most of our people: workforce development
As well as looking at changing the social care cap, and a host of other things, the government is also looking at ‘Making the most of our people’. With or without reform, the quality, reliability and effectiveness of the adult social care system depends on a workforce that feels valued, supported and encouraged to be the best.
It is no accident this White Paper is called ‘People at the Heart of Care’. It is about people delivering services and also those receiving them. At least £500 million of the £1.7 billion announced will be used to transform the way the government supports, sustains and develops the workforce. Much of this support will be focused on levelling up the knowledge, skills and experience of care colleagues across the sector.
By establishing a new knowledge and skills framework (KSF), promoting varied careers pathways and making the most of additional investment in learning and development, alongside support for careworkers and other staff, the government can provide the professional progression our registered workforce, including registered managers (RMs) need and deserve.
Read more about how the social care workforce will be supported in training and development
Don’t forget to update your jobs on the job portal!
Digital skills webinar for recruitment: dates next week
The SW London CCG, supported by Barclays Digital Eagles, is running two webinars to help boost your digital skills and support you to use social media to attract new staff (ahead of our social care recruitment campaign that we are planning for the New Year).
The first session is aimed at people who aren’t confident or comfortable with digital technology and want to know more about it. The second is aimed at managers who may want to boost their recruitment opportunities via social media, but who may not be confident with the various types of social media and what’s involved.
Session 1 – Getting to grips with the basics
- Tuesday 7 December (10am – 11am) via Microsoft Teams
- Thursday 9 December (2pm – 3pm) via Zoom
Session 2 – Using social media to boost recruitment
- Tuesday 7 December (2pm – 3.30pm) via Microsoft Teams
- Thursday 9 December (10am – 11am) via Zoom
To book your place on either session, please email margaret.sharpe@skillsforcare.org.uk and specify which date you want to attend.
Information sharing
Falls Prevention tech funding – email now
Are you currently using or are you interested in deploying falls technology in your care home? If so, please contact [email protected] – there is an opportunity to bid for funding!
Fire risk assessment matrix and checklist for people in their homes
The London Fire Brigade have issued a useful guide to assessing someone’s fire risk at home, giving guidance on what care providers can do to improve fire risk safety, as well as a checklist to help you assess what fire prevention measures might need to be put in place and where to go to get them.
Don’t forget – add/update your jobs
If you have any vacancies, please add them to the Job Portal! As part of our forthcoming recruitment campaign, we will be signposting the public to the job portal so that they can search for roles, so please start to populate it with your vacancies!
If you have any old vacancies that have been listed for sometime, could you take a moment to review them and delete any out of date ones, or update or republish current vacancies so that our jobs page keeps looking fresh.
Contact [email protected] if you need any assistance with the jobs portal.
Weekly Information Sharing FAQs
Dear Colleagues,
Webinars for Care Homes
Thank you for joining the Webinar for Care Homes this week – we hope that these continue to support you during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to remain diligent in following guidance, using PPE and supporting staff and residents to be vaccinated.
Home care webinar: 7 December
At the next London Borough of Sutton Homecare webinar we will be providing you with presentations from:
- Public Health: COVID update in Sutton, and vaccines
- Sutton Heath and Care: Prevention of Admissions Team
- Commissioning updates: vaccination as a condition of employment (VCOD)
- LBS ASC Workforce Campaign
Invites have been sent out to all homecare providers. Look forward to seeing you there.
The next IPC webinar is on 7 December
______________________________________________________________
Webinars and training
IPC sessions for Community Social Care staff
Infection Prevention and Control education sessions for all levels of Community Social Care staff take place online every Monday between 2pm and 3pm.
Register at Eventbrite to attend.
General IPC training sessions for all Community and Social Care staff
Join senior IPC nurses to learn more about general infection prevention and control training including: MRSA, Tuberculosis, diarrhoea, rashes, wound care, specimen taking, head lice, scabies, respiratory infections, including COVID-19, staff health and more.
Sessions run online every Thursday between 2pm to 4.30pm. Register at Eventbrite to attend.
Weekly Information Sharing FAQs webinar
The COVID-19 pandemic remains an extremely challenging situation globally and we recognise that this is the case for staff working in Care Homes of all types. We are continuing the weekly Infection Prevention and Control and Information Sharing webinar Tuesday mornings at 11:00am.
+44 20 3880 0300 United Kingdom, London (Toll)
Conference ID: 855 305 74#
Local numbers | Reset PIN | Learn more about Teams | Meeting options.
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 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.
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
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