Care England Policy Insight (30.10.2023)

 

Vital Meals on Wheels Service ‘Heading for UK-Wide Collapse’ Without Government Intervention – New Report 

The National Association of Care Catering (NACC) is calling for urgent Governmental intervention in the wake of a damning report, researched and written by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), shows vital Meals on Wheels services on the brink of collapse, with only 29% still in operation across the UK, and fewer than 18% in England. 

Meals on Wheels supports vulnerable people to live independently in the community by reducing the risk of malnutrition, loneliness, or social isolation. Alongside at least one nutritious hot meal every day, the regular caring contact helps reduce avoidable health and care costs, as well as providing support for carers. 

Meals on Wheels are not statutory for local authorities to provide, so councils can remove the service to save money even though BAPEN reports that malnutrition costs the UK taxpayer £19 billion per annum. 

As part of this year’s Meals on Wheels Week, 30th October to 3rd November 2023, the NACC is calling on Government to: 

  • Ensure councils receive urgent funding to directly support the continuation of existing meals on wheels services including direct funding to reinstate meals on wheels services lost in recent years. 

  • Consider Meals on Wheels a statutory responsibility to safeguard its future. 

  • Consider other additional alternative support such as VAT relief for service providers and help with food and fuel inflation which has impacted on the financial viability of the service. 

The NACC, along with several other signatories, that include Age UK and Care England, has written to MP’s today to raise its concerns for the future of the Meals on Wheels services and for the far reaching and potentially disastrous ramifications if such a vital lifeline into older and more vulnerable people living in our communities was to be lost completely. 

The letter can be read in full here 

Click here for the NACC/APSE report 

 

UKHSA announces launch of the Vivaldi social care pilot 

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today announced a pilot scheme to monitor infections in care homes in England. The new pilot builds on the success of the Vivaldi study during the pandemic, with a wider remit to study other infections. 

The Vivaldi social care project, commissioned by UKHSA in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and other partners including The Outstanding Society, Care England, and NHS England, is one of several national surveillance studies commissioned by UKHSA to gather evidence on the burden of infections across healthcare and community settings. 

This new pilot will work with over 500 care homes in England to monitor infections such as COVID-19, flu, norovirus, and urinary tract infections, and analyse the resultant anonymised data in order to help reduce infections in care homes for older adults. 

To read this announcement in full, click here


New £100 million fund to capitalise on AI’s game-changing potential in life sciences and healthcare 
A new mission announced by the Prime Minister will accelerate the use of AI in life sciences to tackle the biggest health challenges of our generation. 

In a speech on Thursday, the Prime Minister announced that a £100 million in new government investment will be targeted towards areas where rapid deployment of AI has the greatest potential to create transformational breakthroughs in treatments for previously incurable diseases. The AI Life Sciences Accelerator Mission will capitalise on the UK’s unique strengths in secure health data and cutting-edge AI. 

The Life Sciences Vision encompasses 8 critical healthcare missions that government, industry, the NHS, academia and medical research charities will work together on at speed to solve – from cancer treatment to tackling dementia. 

To read the story in full, click here 


Locking in high quality care: cyber security fundamentals 

Cyber threats and data breaches are real dangers that could compromise sensitive information, damage reputation, and really disrupt a care service. As technology advances, so do the tactics of cybercriminals. Thankfully, you don’t have to be a cyber security expert to protect your digital systems. In fact, there are some simple steps you can implement to get started: 

  1. Strong Passwords 
    Encourage the use of strong, unique passwords for each account and ensure these are updated regularly. National guidance recommends using three random, separate words to form a strong password. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication for added security. 

  1. Back-ups 
    You should regularly backup your data to somewhere separate from your computer, like an external hard drive or on the cloud. In the event of a cyber incident, this could protect your data from being lost. 

  1. Staff training 
    Equip your staff with the knowledge they need to identify and prevent cyber attacks. Your staff are the first line of defence and it’s important they know how to spot a cyber threat. Better Security, Better Care have a useful list of training resources you can refer to. 

  1. Regular updates 
    Keep software, operating systems, and antivirus programmes up to date. Updates often include security patches to address vulnerabilities. 

  1. Use the Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT) 
    The DSPT is a helpful self-assessment tool that all CQC-registered providers should complete at least once a year. It’ll help you take a bird’s eye view of your business to check and improve your data and cyber security arrangements. It’ll also help you evidence to clients and their families, commissioners, and regulators that you take data protection seriously. There’s lots of free support available to help you use the DSPT with Better Security, Better Care. 

By implementing good cyber security practices and using the free resources available, you can adopt digital systems in your care service with confidence. 

Read more about this here 


CQC Update Webinar, 8 November at 1.30pm  

The CQC would like to invite homecare providers to a webinar on Wednesday 8 November to share important information. In particular, information on why the data you share with us via the capacity tracker is important to us.  

At the webinar in June, they shared information on updating your CQC records which many of you said was very useful. They would like to share some more insights on that as well as talk with you about the issuing of Notice of Intention and financial penalties. They understand that some of you may have concerns about sharing your data as well as about enforcement, but through this session we hope to alleviate those concerns. The webinar will be held on Microsoft Teams. Please find the joining details below. If you have any queries about this webinar, please contact capacitytracker-guidance@dhsc.gov.uk  

Meeting ID: 375 960 411 503 | Passcode: LEX9VA 

Click here to join the meeting 


Have your say: NHS-Funded Nursing Care rate 2024-25  

The Department of Health and Social Care is currently in the process of setting the 2024-2025 rate for NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC).  

Care England would therefore encourage all care providers who operate nursing homes to actively engage in this cost collection exercise and provide the requested data via the Capacity Tracker tool.  

You should be able to see a link to the survey when you log into Capacity Tracker. If you have any questions, please contact the DHSC FNC inbox at fnc@dhsc.gov.uk.  

When you complete the survey, please ensure that you have data on the number of residents by funding type and payroll information on both pay and hours worked by registered nurses for the two months of April 2023 and September 2023 (or your most recent completed payroll period) to hand.  

The survey is will be open for three weeks, closing midnight on Wednesday 15 November.  

The official announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care can be read here.  


Supporting the delivery of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination 

The government hosted a public consultation from 7 August to 18 September 2023 on changes to regulations 3A, 19 and 247A of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to support the ongoing delivery of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination. 

The consultation received 220 responses, with significant support for each proposal. 

The consultation response provides an analysis of the responses received and sets out the government’s intention to make amendments to the regulations. 

To view the outcome of this consultation, click here 


Tenders and contract opportunities for adult social care

The link below lists recent tender and contract opportunities for adult social care providers to consider.  Click here to see tender and contract opportunities.

Latest Opportunities:
 

Solihull MBC (SOL) - Fairer Futures Fund Early Implementers Scheme - Grant Application 

https://www.publicsector.co.uk/contractalert/505526 

  

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust - Adult Family Carers Service for Adults with a Learning Disability 

https://www.publicsector.co.uk/contractalert/505565 

  

London Borough of Merton - Housing Related Support Services 

https://www.publicsector.co.uk/contractalert/505598 

  

Durham County Council - Workplace Health Programme 

https://www.publicsector.co.uk/contractalert/505670 


October discounts and free support for care providers 

The fourth monthly discount and free support offers designed to solve problems, deal with challenges, and reduce costs for care providers, which have saved millions of pounds for both members and non-members of Care England. 

26 discounts and free support offers which include:  

  • Free audits and reviews which have already saved millions of pounds for care providers 

  • Discounts to reduce costs by thousands of pounds 

  • Free support and advice to increase recruitment and retention 

  • Free and Discounted legal advice 

  • Free workforce helplines, training, and diagnostic reviews 

  • Free trials to stimulate and support residents, boost activity, and reduce falls 

View the full offers here.  


Care England re-issues gas and electricity tender for care providers

Care providers with energy contracts expiring before 2026, who wish to secure the lowest  possible energy price available at their renewal date and to benefit from support and solutions not available to individual organisations on their own, should register their interest here and complete the expression of interest link