Covid related information

1. Department of Health and Social Care Webinar on vaccination of people working/deployed in care homes and further guidance/resources (information for all Care Homes)
2. Action required: Infection Control and Testing Fund Extension (July to September 2021) spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)
3. UPDATED GUIDANCE Steps to take following the death of a person who worked in adult social care in England (information for all providers)
4. UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England (Information for all home support providers)

In other news

Department of Health and Social Care transitional safeguarding learning event: ‘bridging the gap’ Wednesday 8 September 2021, from 2 pm to 4 pm

1. Department of Health and Social Care Webinar on vaccination of people working/deployed in care homes and further guidance/resources (information for all Care Homes)

DHSC has now published operational guidance to support the regulations that come into force on 11 November. The 16-week grace period for all care home workers began on 22 July. This means that to meet the date the regulations come into force, workers have to have their first vaccinations no later than 16 September. The guidance is lengthy but has separate sections for local authorities, registered persons, staff, residents and their families, and visiting professionals.

DHSC is hosting a webinar on Tuesday 17 August, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, for care home managers and providers. The purpose of the event is to outline key points of the guidance and the details of implementation and to give care home managers and providers the opportunity to have their questions answered.

Sign up for the webinar on Eventbrite

You can find additional resources, including:

• social media assets and a Q&A, in DHSC’s stakeholder Google Drive
• Skills for Care vaccination as a condition of deployment resource centre once it has been updated.
• Dr. Pete Calveley, CEO of Barchester Healthcare, has also written a blog on their experiences of implementing a similar policy this year, which may be of interest.
• CQC has also published a statement on their role in relation to mandatory vaccination of people working/deployed in care homes. CQC says the requirement for vaccination will become part of the fundamental standards and be enforced in appropriate cases. They will not begin monitoring until it becomes a duty in November. They will continue to use their existing assessment and enforcement policies and take a proportionate approach. The statement outlines CQC’s approach to registration, monitoring and inspection, and enforcement.

2. Action required: Infection Control and Testing Fund Extension (July to September 2021) spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)

Further to the distribution of the Infection Control and Testing Fund Extension (July to September 2021) grant allocations, the Council is required to report to the Department of Health and Social Care how care homes and CQC registered community care locations have spent the funding up to 31 July 2021. The Department uses the information submitted to predict requirements for future grant funding.

In order to enable as comprehensive a report as possible, please complete and submit the appropriate spend return form using the links below. Please note the change in the format of the forms and that we are asking you to report percentage spend figures for each measure as opposed to a monetary value.

The deadline for submission is 11:59 pm on 23 August 2021.

Care Homes spend return form

Community Care spend return form

3. UPDATED GUIDANCE Steps to take following the death of a person who worked in adult social care in England (information for all providers)

This guidance covers actions for local authorities and social care providers following a coronavirus (COVID-19) related death of an employee or volunteer in adult social care. Details have been added of a life assurance scheme for eligible frontline health and care workers who die from coronavirus contracted in the course of their frontline essential work and removed details of the CARE workforce app which no longer exists.

The full guidance can be found at; Steps to take following the death of a person who worked in adult social care in England

4. UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England (Information for all home support providers)

This guidance is a resource for those working in domiciliary care providing information on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

A paragraph has been added on what PPE to use when supporting an individual or client on visits out.

The full guidance can be found here; COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England

In other news…

Department of Health and Social Care transitional safeguarding learning event: ‘bridging the gap’ Wednesday 8 September 2021, from 2pm to 4pm

This learning event will enable participants to improve their knowledge of Transitional Safeguarding, promote this approach to safeguarding young people and use the briefing locally.

Read Bridging the gap transitional safeguarding and the role of social work with adults

(Delegates are encouraged to read this report beforehand).

Transitional Safeguarding is an “approach to safeguarding adolescents and young adults fluidly across developmental stages which build on the best available evidence, learns from both children’s and adult safeguarding practice and which prepares young people for their adult lives.” It requires changes in practice and across systems, involving all agencies. The transitional nature of maturation after 18 requires us to take a nuanced approach to the ‘age of maturity' and to take account of young adults’ individual experiences and circumstances in how we protect their rights and understand their capacity to make particular decisions.

This learning event will enable participants to:

• improve their knowledge of Transitional Safeguarding;
• influence and change safeguarding practice with young people;
• and consider how to develop a Transitional Safeguarding approach locally.

The event will focus on how to use the report ‘Bridging the gap -Transitional Safeguarding and the role of social work with adults, a knowledge briefing’ to change local strategy and practice.

Agenda:

2pm Welcome: Fran Leddra

2:05pm Dez Holmes, Research in Practice ‘Bridging the Gap: Transitional Safeguarding’, including the voices of young people with lived experience

2:25pm Discussion groups: reflective questions for practitioners and leaders

2:55pm comfort break

3:05pm Ruth Allen ‘practical ways how social workers can understand the fundamentals of the briefing in their work and make change’, including input from practitioner

3:20pm ‘Practical ways for Boards and Partnerships to promote a Transitional Safeguarding approach’

3:30pm Discussion groups: what are we doing/what can we do next?

3:55pm Next steps: Fran Leddra

Register for the Transitional safeguarding learning event: ‘bridging the gap’