1. Covid-19 Vaccine roll out reminder of current information (Information for Birmingham care homes)
2. Care Home Covid Testing Guidance – Update (For all Birmingham care homes)
3. Tier 4 updated guidance on care home visiting during COVID-19 (Information for all care homes)
4. Tier 4 – Clinically Extremely Vulnerable - updated guidance (Information for all Birmingham care providers)
5. Updated guidance on Isolation Periods (Information for all care homes)
6. Preparing for EU transition in adult social care – Letter from Department of Health and Social Care (Information for all care providers)

1.Covid-19 Vaccine roll out reminder of current information (Information for Birmingham care homes)

As you will know, the Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out across the country and some care home staff in Birmingham and Solihull have been some of the first in the country to receive their vaccine. Some staff have been called to the QE and some are being vaccinated at their local practice site. Further vaccines are expected and there is now an opportunity for some of the larger homes to receive vaccine for residents. The PCN to which your home is aligned will be in touch to arrange vaccination with you directly. At the moment, these numbers are likely to be low whilst PCNs gain familiarity with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, but we expect this to pick up quickly early in the new year.

In order to prepare further, we would ask that you:

• Talk with residents and their families as soon as possible to gain their consent, so that you are ready as soon as the vaccine is available.
• Encourage your staff to get vaccinated as soon as they are given an opportunity to do so. Care homes have a responsibility to make sure staff keep people safe and having the vaccine reduces the risk of Covid-19 outbreaks in your home.
• Discuss vaccination with any regular agency staff you use and encourage them to get vaccinated as part of your care home vaccination when it takes place
• Keep a track of how many residents and staff have had the vaccine and update the National Capacity Tracker with this information daily.
• Ensure staff know their NHS number as it is needed as part of the vaccination process. The NHS number is a 10-digit number which can be found on any letter or document they have received from the NHS, including prescriptions, test results, and hospital referral or appointment letters. You can also find your NHS number online by logging in to the NHS App below (you'll need to register if you have not used it before)

NHS App

Useful resources

NHS England have compiled a communications pack for care home managers and have produced two tools to assist with the assessment process (please see attachments);

• Covid-19 Vaccination Best Interests Decision Tool
• Covid-19 Capacity Assessment Tool

Videos, patients and staff leaflets and an array of FAQs are also available on the Birmingham and Solihull Vaccine website

Birmingham and Solihull Vaccine website

A video of COVID-19 vaccine questions and answers with one of the leads on the vaccination roll out; Clara Day;

COVID 19 vaccine Question and Answer video

Documentation relating to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme, including guidance, training resources, leaflets and posters and consent forms and letters are available here:

Government COVID-19 Vaccination Programme web page

2.Care Home Covid Testing Guidance – Update (For all Birmingham care homes)

New guidance has been published which sets out revised testing arrangements in care homes and additional testing whilst we are in Tier 4. The full guidance is available below:

Care home COVID-19 testing guidance

but in summary, the new requirements are to:

• Staff – weekly PCR test and 2 x weekly LFD (one of which to occur the same day as the PCR for quality assurance purposes)
• Residents – monthly PCR test
• Tier 4 once a positive case found with LFD or PCR in the home in staff or resident – 7 days of daily LFD testing for staff in addition to regular testing above, plus confirmatory PCR test for any additional positives from LFD
• All tiers where there is a suspected or confirmed outbreak – PCR testing for residents and staff on day 1 and once more between days 4 – 7 of the outbreak

Page 5 of the guidance sets this out in a helpful visual summary.

Details of where to get support with testing is set out on page 33 of the guidance.

Of course a £149m fund was announced last week to support testing in care homes and we are expecting details of this early in the new year.

3.Tier 4 updated guidance on care home visiting during COVID-19 (Information for all care homes)

Please note there have been changes to the guidance for care home visiting which takes into account the new 4 Tier system. Birmingham is in Tier 4 as of 31 December 2020 which means that all care homes – except in the event of an active outbreak – should seek to enable outdoor visiting and visits where there is a substantial screen. Unfortunately indoor visits are not permitted whilst we remain in Tier 4, with exceptions for residents who are sadly considered to be End of Life.

Visiting care homes during COVID-19

The Council’s Care Home Visiting Position Statement is being updated accordingly and will be published online in the next few days. However the Care Home Visiting Flowchart has been revised to include Tier 4 guidance and is available here:

Care home visiting flowchart

4.Tier 4 – Clinically Extremely Vulnerable - updated guidance (Information for all Birmingham care providers)

Birmingham is now in Tier 4 which means that all staff that are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable must now stay at home and follow the shielding guidance below:

Guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19

Please review your business continuity plans and individual staff risk assessments to ensure staff are appropriately supported and that service delivery can continue. Should you experience any significant staffing issues as a result of this, that cannot be managed within your existing workforce, please contact the Council in the first instance via email at: operationalcommissioning@birmingham.gov.uk and your local Commissioner will be in touch to provide support.

5.Updated guidance on Isolation Periods (Information for all care homes)

Previously the UK Chief Medical Officers announced a reduction in the number of days that contacts must self-isolate - from 14 to 10 days. The law in England has been changed to reflect this. However, it has been agreed that for care homes and hospitals a more precautionary approach is required and the recommended isolation period for resident and patient contacts in care homes and hospitals should remain at 14 days. The precautionary 14-day contact-isolation period does not apply to care home or hospital staff contacts, who should follow the legal requirement to isolate for 10 days.

The following guidance has been updated to reflect this position:

Management of staff and exposed patients and residents in health and social care settings

Coronavirus (COVID-19): admission and care of people in care homes guidance

This guidance has also been updated to reflect agreement that patients and residents can be exempt from being re-tested within 90 days. Only patients who have tested negative on admission will need to be tested 48 hours prior to discharge to a care home.

6.Preparing for EU transition in adult social care – Letter from Department of Health and Social Care (Information for all care providers)

The Department of Health and Social Care issued a letter on 21 December with key information and advice regarding planning for the end of the EU transition period on 31 December 2020. You can read the letter here:

Letter from DHSC with key information and advice regarding planning for the end of the EU transition period on 31 December 2020

Should you experience any significant disruption as a result of the transition period, please notify your Commissioner or email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk and we will contact you to discuss further.