Policy Updates 15th November 2021
The following policy updates have been curated from the week commencing 15th November 2021.
New Policy
COVID-19 booster vaccine programme for winter 2021 to 2022: JCVI statement, November 2021
Updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the COVID-19 booster vaccine programme for winter 2021 to 2022. This statement sets out further advice from JCVI on extension of the booster programme to revaccinate adults aged 40 to 49 years against COVID-19. The main aim of this booster vaccination programme is to reduce deaths, serious disease and hospitalisations from COVID-19 over the 2021 to 2022 winter period and through 2022.
Found at: GOV.UK
A place we can call home: A vision and a roadmap for providing more options for housing with care and support for older people
The Commission on the Role of Housing in the Future of Care and Support was established in October 2020. Composed of a group of leaders of care and support organisations, academics, experts and practitioners related to housing with care and support, and co-chaired by the Rt Hon Paul Burstow, Professor Julienne Meyer CBE and Sir David Pearson CBE, the Commission was tasked with developing a vision and roadmap for providing more options for housing with care and support.
Found at: SCIE
Updated Policy
COVID-19: the green book, chapter 14a
15 November 2021
Updated to include second doses for 16 to 17 year olds and booster doses for 40 to 49 year olds; further clarification on booster timing flexibility; guidance on deferral after COVID-19 infection in under 18s and other minor edits for clarification.
Found at: GOV.UK
Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel
Sets out the principles and best practice benchmarks health and social care employers and recruitment agencies must follow to ensure effective, ethical international recruitment.
11 November 2021: Updated to reflect the decision to add Kenya to the 'amber' list of countries in the code of practice. Wording has been amended to make it clearer that an amber country is any country where managed international recruitment is permitted only on the terms of a government-to-government agreement.
Found at: GOV.UK
JCVI issues advice on COVID-19 booster vaccines for those aged 40 to 49 and second doses for 16 to 17 year olds
JCVI has advised that, in addition to those aged over 50 years and at higher risk from coronavirus, all adults aged 40 to 49 years should be offered an mRNA booster. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that, in addition to those aged over 50 years and at higher risk from coronavirus (COVID-19), all adults aged 40 to 49 years should be offered an mRNA booster, 6 months after their second dose, irrespective of the vaccines given for the first and second doses.
Found at: GOV.UK
Care Leaders Call on Govt to Award Care Workers Winter Bonus
Care leaders are calling on the government to award and fund a £1,000 bonus over the winter period for social care workers in England. The bonus would recognise the loyalty and dedication of care workers through the Covid-19 pandemic and would help stem the loss of skilled and experienced staff to other types of work.
Found at: ADASS
Wider Stakeholder News
Vaccination as a condition of deployment (VCOD) for all healthcare workers
Letter from Amanda Pritchard, Prerana Issar, Professor Stephen Powis, Ruth May and Dr Nikita Kanani.
Found at: NHS England
What 5G can do for the adult social care sector
Britain’s telecommunication companies are rolling out 5G networks across the country. 5G connectivity can make a huge difference to adults who need social care and their carers. Eleanor Maw, wireless connectivity Policy Lead at NHSX, explains how wireless connections support more personalised, responsive care and how 5G is helping to transform the adult social care sector.
Found at: NHSX
Boosters give over 90% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in adults over 50
Results from first UK real-world study by UKHSA show significantly increased protection against symptomatic disease from Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster dose in those aged 50 and above. These findings show that 2 weeks after receiving a booster dose, protection against symptomatic infection in adults aged 50 years and over was 93.1% in those with AstraZeneca as their primary course and 94.0% for Pfizer-BioNTech.
Found at: GOV.UK
Capacity tracker
It is now a requirement for all care home staff to have received both their vaccinations. There is now also a requirement making vaccination a condition of employment in the health and the wider social care sector. These regulations will require workers who have direct, face to face contact with service users to provider evidence that they have been vaccinated, subject to limited exceptions. This will come in to force on the 1st April 2022.
Vaccinations can be accessed via www.grabajab.net which has a list of walk in clinics staff can access.
This email is also a reminder that you need to regularly update all areas of the National Capacity Tracker – at a minimum this should be every 48 hours.
Central Government continues to use this data on a daily basis to identify issues or raise concerns with Local Authorities to investigate further. Therefore, it is really important that the system is kept up to date, particularly vaccination uptake for staff, and residents where you are a care home provider.
The tracker is also a Government requirement and its regular use forms the basis for distributing additional funding support to providers, eg Infection Control Fund.
We appreciate that at times the system experiences data errors so if you notice this then please continue to raise your queries directly with the Capacity Tracker Support Team (tel: 0191 691 3729, email: necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net and insert ‘Capacity Tracker’ into the subject line.
Vaccination as a condition of deployment in a care home and data protection
As of 11 November 2021, staff, volunteers and visiting professionals must be fully vaccinated against covid, or have an exemption, if they are to come into a care home in England. The regulations say that a care home may process information about vaccination or medical exemption status, but this must be done in a way that is consistent with data protection legislation. This includes updating information asset registers, record of processing activity, and privacy notice. Care homes will also be required to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA). Digital Social Care has published information, including a draft privacy policy and DPIA.
Found at: Digital Social Care