Policy Updates 25th October 2021

 

The following policy updates have been curated from the week commencing 25th October 2021.

Important Customer Notice- Quarantine and Recall 
Please find below information on recall of Obisk Blue Tree Face Type IIR mask - MKTIIR0214 (tie back) and MKTIIR0199 (ear looped). Batch/LOT numbers: 

  • 101000345

  • 101000346

  • 101000348

  • 101000349

  • 101000350

The MKTIIR0199 (ear loop) mask has been on the PPE portal and is likely to have been ordered by ASC and other providers. 
If any providers have these masks, as detailed in the below link they should inform the NHS Product Enquiries Team by emailing productqueries@ppeenquiries.com, quoting Ref: Obisk Blue Tree Face Type IIR mask and confirm the volume of product in stock by 15/11/21.
Found at: Care England

Adult social care extension to Infection Control and Testing Fund 2021
Sets out the measures that the extension to the Infection Control and Testing Fund supports, including distribution of funds, conditions and reporting requirements. We’ve extended the fund until 30 September 2021.
26 October 2021: Updated 'Annex E: ICTF2 reporting template 2 - due 29 October 2021' so that in the ‘Testing_allocation’ tab, cell W8 is calculated correctly, and in the ‘IPC_allocation’ tab, cell AG2 has been updated to provide additional clarity on the information required.
Found at: GOV.UK


 
2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance: October 2021 to March 2022 
The six areas set out in March remain our priorities: 

1. Supporting the health and wellbeing of staff and taking action on recruitment and retention. 

  • The priorities, based on the pillars of the People Plan, therefore remain as set out in March.

  • In this context systems are asked to:

    • focus on the delivery of workforce plans that support elective recovery in the second half of the year and winter resilience through increasing workforce availability, and putting in place or scaling up new and more productive ways of working and transformation opportunities

    • continue to move to whole system workforce planning to support sustainable delivery against the priorities for the NHS and preparations for the transition to statutory integrated care boards (ICBs) from April 2022.

2. Delivering the NHS COVID vaccination programme and continuing to meet the needs of patients with COVID-19. 

  • Primary Care Network (PCN)-led local vaccination services are asked to prioritise older adult care home residents and care home staff. We are asking that all eligible people in this cohort be offered a vaccination by 1 November 2021, and therefore delivery plans should be designed to meet this target.

  • systems should seek to co-administer in any circumstances where this improves patient experience and uptake of both vaccines, reduces administrative burdens on services or reduces health inequalities (eg in hospital hubs, residential care homes and roving models).

3. Building on what we have learned during the pandemic to transform the delivery of services, accelerate the restoration of elective and cancer care and manage the increasing demand on mental health services. 

  • During the first half of the year elective activity started to rapidly recover towards pre-pandemic levels. More recently, non-elective pressures, including a rise in COVID-19 admissions as well as workforce supply constraints due to staff needing to isolate, have slowed this progress.

  • Systems are asked to take full advantage of the elective high-impact changes and transformation opportunities set out in the 2021/22 priorities and operational guidance.

  • £1bn revenue and £500m capital funding above that funded within core envelopes has been made available to the NHS in the second half of 2021/22 to support the continued recovery of elective activity and cancer services.

  • We are making a £700m targeted investment fund (including the additional £500m capital funding) available to support elective recovery. We are asking systems to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement regional teams to propose, by 14 October, a shortlist of targeted investments that can deliver in year and have a material impact on activity in their region either in 2021/22 or in future years.

  • The ambitions set out in the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20–2023/24, which expand and transform services, remain the foundation for the mental health response to COVID-19, enabling local systems to expand capacity, improve quality and tackle the treatment gap.

  • For the second half of the year systems are therefore asked to continue to deliver on their 2021/22 Mental Health plan

4. Expanding primary care capacity to improve access, local health outcomes and address health inequalities. 

  • Primary care is under intense pressure. Systems are asked to continue to prioritise local investment and support for general practice as well as PCNs, with a particular focus on GP recruitment and retention and ensuring access for patients. This includes supporting the recruitment under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) to ensure that nationally 15,500 additional FTE are in post by the end of 2021/22

5. Transforming community and urgent and emergency care to prevent inappropriate attendance at emergency departments (EDs), improve timely admission to hospital for ED patients and reduce length of stay. 

  • Government will continue to fund the first four weeks of post-discharge recovery and support services that are provided on or before 31 March 2022 for those with new and additional care needs. The scheme will end on 31 March 2022 and will not fund care delivered after this date - consequently no costs for care delivered in 2022/23 will be funded by this scheme. Working together, health and social care systems are asked to ensure that the Hospital Discharge and Community Support policy and operating model are fully implemented. This will ensure that more people are discharged home and that the length of stay for people in acute care (particularly over 21 days) is reduced.

  • Two-hour community crisis response teams are expected to be providing consistent national cover (8am-8pm, seven days a week) by April 2022 across every ICS to prevent avoidable attendance and admissions. Activity must be fully reported into the Community Services Data Set from 1 October 2021.

  • The timing and magnitude of potential influenza and COVID-19 infection waves for winter 2021/22 are currently unknown, but mathematical modelling indicates the 2021/22 influenza season in the UK could be up to 50% larger than typically seen and it may start earlier than usual.

6. Working collaboratively across systems to deliver on these priorities. 

  • ICSs should continue to progress their development and preparation for the statutory establishment of integrated care boards (ICBs)

  • Designate ICB CEOs and regional directors will be asked to sign a readiness to operate statement in March 2022, confirming that all relevant preparations and due diligence have been carried out to enable the ICB to fulfil its statutory functions from 1 April 2022.

  • Systems will continue to receive a fixed system funding envelope based on the H1 2021/22 envelopes adjusted for additional known pressures, such as the impact of the pay award.

  • Block payment arrangements will remain in place for relationships between NHS commissioners (comprising NHS England and CCGs) and NHS providers (comprising NHS foundation trusts and NHS trusts). Signed contracts between NHS commissioners and NHS providers are not required for the 2021/22 financial year.

Found at: NHS England

 
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