Care England Policy Insight (20.11.2023)

Cold weather communications toolkit 2023/24: Supporting document for the Adverse Weather and Health Plan

This toolkit supports UKHSA’s Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) and the updated Cold-Health Alerting (CHA) service. This is the second toolkit for stakeholders for communicating in periods of adverse weather, with the last one being from June for hot weather.
The communication material in this toolkit relates specifically to cold weather and is intended to provide basic health information that can be communicated during cold spells so that the right messages reach the right people at the right time.
The content included in this toolkit can be used to target both public and professional audiences. It contains background information, key messages, suggested social media copy, social media assets and links to useful information.
Guidance for adult social care managers provides advice to managers working in the social care sector on how to reduce the risks of cold weather to the health and wellbeing of those who receive care
Social media assets will be available to download on the Campaign Resource Centre (CRC) and are now available to download on GoogleDrive alongside suggested copy and alt text.
More information can be found at the following links:

Other resources:

A free Nutcracker Performance for your care home

Care England warmly invites your care home to experience the enchantment of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, this festive season on the 14 December at 2pm with this timeless ballet that captivates hearts and brings families and loved ones together, around the magic of Christmas. Please register for this exclusive free broadcast here to ensure your residents can enjoy this amazing festive ballet.

NHS dementia diagnosis rates at three-year high

NHS staff have diagnosed 475,573 people with dementia in September – up more than 52,000 than the same time last year, with diagnosis rates now at a three year high.
Speaking at NHS Providers annual conference today, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said that the NHS is committed to continuing this diagnosis drive so that more people get the help they need as soon as possible.
NHS England launched new pilots in December to increase diagnosis rates with health professionals going into care homes to assess older adults who may have missed checks during the pandemic.
Heath chiefs are expecting the ambition of diagnosing 66.7% of people over 65 will be met in the next year.
In 14 parts of the country care home residents are being proactively assessed for the condition by specialist nurses and other healthcare professionals. The programme has led to the North West (69.1%) and North East England (66.9%) exceeding the national target and at their highest levels locally since before the pandemic.
Read the full article from NHS England here.

Have your say on care home catering

One of the most important parts of a care home residents’ day is mealtimes. We want to understand the impact mealtimes, the dining experience, and the dining environment have on residents and loved ones and welcome your views via two short 3-minute Apetito led surveys.
Each survey will offer you a chance to win a Fortnum and Mason hamper for you or your care service to enjoy and you will also receive a copy of the final report.
Your input will help to understand how services compare to help shape and improve mealtimes across the sector.
The survey links are here: Survey 1, Survey 2.

Changes to rehabilitation periods - should health and social care employers be concerned?

On 28 October 2023, the rehabilitation periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (the Act) changed. The effect of these changes is that a conviction becomes spent sooner than before. The most noticeable change is that if an individual has received a custodial sentence of more than 4 years, the conviction is now spent after 7 years (previously a conviction in these circumstances never became spent).
There are a number of questions that employers, particularly in regulated sectors, may now be asking, such as:

What does ‘spent’ mean?
How do these changes impact employers recruiting to roles which involve working with vulnerable adults and young people?
What has changed that we do need to know about?

Read the full Anthony Collins article to learn more here.

Landmark deal to boost nation’s health and save NHS £14 billion

A landmark deal has been agreed that is set to save the NHS £14 billion over 5 years in medicines costs, enable patients to access the latest lifesaving treatments more consistently and boost the UK’s position as a global superpower in advanced healthcare, technology and clinical research.

The new deal secures savings for the taxpayer-funded health service that are double those under the current medicine pricing agreement, which expires at the end of this year.

The agreement will save billions more pounds that can be used to provide the best possible treatment and care for NHS patients, grow the workforce and cut waiting lists - one of the Prime Minister’s 5 priorities.

The voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (VPAG) has been agreed by the government, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and will run for 5 years until 31 December 2028.
Read more from the DHSC here.

WorkWell: Letter to Integrated Care Systems on the new service

This correspondence from the DHSC outlines the new WorkWell pilot site. WorkWell is a new, forward-thinking health and disability support service, backed by £64 million in funding available across approximately 15 local areas, to support the fourth pillar of the Integrated Care Services (ICS). This letter advises Chief Executives of Integrated Care Boards and Local Authorities of the forthcoming WorkWell prospectus.

Over the coming weeks they will publish a WorkWell prospectus, which will set out exact details on how to apply.

There are two principal components of WorkWell’s total funding:

Funding for new Work and Health Integration leadership posts within all Integrated Care Boards.
Funding for Integrated Care Boards, in partnership with local authorities and local Jobcentre networks, to apply to design and deliver WorkWell pilot services.