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Care Matters Weekly: Friday 1 April 2022
Updated guidance on changes to COVID-19 testing, admission and care of people in care homes and PPE. Please share.
Updated guidance on changes to COVID-19 testing, admission and care of people in care homes and PPE. Please share.
- COVID-19
- Updated guidance: Changes to COVID-19 testing in England from 1 April
- Updated guidance: Admission and care of people in care homes
- Updated guidance: Personal protective equipment (PPE): local contacts for accessing free PPE
- Training and Development
- Training and development: Foundations of Palliative Care for registered healthcare professionals
- Training and development: Sepsis Virtual Training for Carers
- Infection prevention and control
- IPC Care Home Champion meeting
- Pan London IPC Conference for Care Homes and Adult Social Care Settings: 28 April
- The Residential & Home Care Show, part of Health Plus Care: 18/19 May
- Guidance changes – Help from London Borough of Sutton Public Health team
- Webinars and Training
- Sutton Care Hub Job Portal
COVID-19
Updated guidance: Changes to COVID-19 testing in England from 1 April
New guidance has been published about COVID-19 testing in England, which includes:
- Free tests for people who have COVID-19 symptoms will continue to be provided to adult social care staff in care homes, homecare organisations, extra care and supported living settings and adult day care centres, as well as residents in care homes and extra care and supported living settings via the established organisation ordering portal
- During periods of high prevalence, asymptomatic testing will continue to mitigate risk. Testing will continue to be provided for adult social care staff and a small number of visitors providing personal care
- Care home outbreak testing for all staff and residents will also continue all year
- Most visitors to adult social care settings, the NHS, hospices, prisons or places of detention will no longer require a test
- Tests will continue to be provided to a small number of visitors to care homes and hospices who will be providing personal care
- Visits by people with symptoms may still be allowed in exceptional circumstances, such as end of life visits
Updated guidance: Admission and care of people in care homes
Updated guidance (22 March) has been published for the admission and care of people in care homes. Change made:
- Updated to reduce the duration of outbreak management in care homes from 14 days to 10 days
Updated guidance: Personal protective equipment (PPE): local contacts for accessing free PPE
Updated guidance has been published for access to free PPE (25 March). Change made:
- Updated with latest local contact details, and to reflect the fact that sectors currently receiving PPE through their local authority or local resilience forum are now able to order PPE through the PPE Portal and that National Supply Disruption Response has been disbanded
- Removed references to order limits as these are now available to see on the portal. Added information on new sectors that can sign up and how they can contact their local authority or local resilience forum
Training and Development
Training and development: Foundations of Palliative Care for registered healthcare professionals
St Raphael’s Hospice is running palliative care foundation courses for registered healthcare professionals.
The Foundations of Palliative Care is running 21 and 22 June and 8 and 9 November, and is aimed at/suitable for registered nurses, nursing associates and paramedics.
Topics covered:
- What is Palliative care & What is Hospice Care
- Advance Care Planning
- Symptom control
- Priorities of care for the dying
- Non-pharmacological interventions for symptom control
- Registered Nurse/HCP Verification of Expected Adult Death (simulated learning)
- Syringe pumps and Saf-T Intimas: practical workshop
A light breakfast, lunch and refreshments are included throughout the day. All attendees will receive a certificate that can be used towards revalidation, CPD and appraisal.
For more information & booking please see the St Raphael Hospice website or contact the Education team on [email protected]
Sepsis virtual training for carers looking after people with Learning Disabilities (LD)
This virtual training will take place on Thursday 28 April, at 2 – 3pm, for all care staff of LD residential homes/supported living homes/extra care housing and will be run by Ana Weithers (Sepsis Clinical Nurse Specialist). This training looks into the following;
- What is sepsis
- How to prevent it
- How to recognise it
- What are the treatments
This training is taking place to help care providers/staff have better understanding about sepsis which then contributes to reducing the risk of LD residents experiencing sepsis and consequent deaths. Sepsis is a key contributor to premature deaths for people with learning disabilities.
For any enquiries, please contact Choonwha on 07899 661522 or [email protected]
Infection Prevention and Control
IPC Care Home Champion meeting
The next IPC Care Home Champion meeting is on Monday 4 April, at 2pm.
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,,749835730# United Kingdom, London
0800 026 6146,,749835730# United Kingdom (Toll-free)
Phone Conference ID: 749 835 730#
Pan London IPC Conference for Care Homes and Adult Social Care Settings: 28 April
This half-day virtual conference is suitable for nurses, carers, managers and allied healthcare workers in adult social care settings, and will include:
- Prevention of UTI’s
- The role of the IPC Champion#
- Norovirus and much more
Delivered by expert Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Nurses. Register your place now on Eventbrite
The Residential & Home Care Show, part of Health Plus Care: 18/19 May
Since the Residential and Home Care Show last took place in 2019 it is impossible to underestimate the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on the whole sector. This FREE two-day event is geared around very practical sessions, high profile panel discussions and inspirational keynotes. Increase your knowledge, take away tangible takeaways and leave re-energised ready for the challenges ahead!
Guidance changes? Help from London Borough of Sutton Public Health team
There have been a number of changes in guidance over the recent weeks. If you need any help or advice on the changes please contact the London Borough of Sutton Public health team. Drop them an email [email protected]
Webinars and training
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!
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An archive of previous editions can be found on the Sutton Care Hub.
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