Policy Updates 22nd November 2021
The following policy updates have been curated from the week commencing 22nd November 2021.
Updated Policy
Restricting workforce movement between care homes and other care settings
23 November 2021
Revised guidance describing circumstances in which staff movement may be cautiously permitted to plan for capacity concerns and to ensure continuity of care.
Found at: GOV.UK
Coronavirus (COVID-19): providing unpaid care
23 November 2021
Updated 'Guidance for those who provide unpaid care to friends or family’ throughout in line with the latest clinical advice from UKHSA, and in alignment with other policy changes relevant to unpaid carers. Please refer to the summary change note in the guidance for a full breakdown of all updates.
Found at: GOV.UK
Build Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care – The Metering Amendment
It is estimated that charging reform will cost £3.7bn in steady state from 2027/28, which is when people start to reach the cap. The charts show who benefits relative to 2015 by length of care journey and starting asset level. The 2021 version targets more of the extra support into the more generous means test and lower Daily Living Costs. Whereas the 2015 version targets more into supporting those with the very longest care journeys. The amendment means that only an individual’s own spend counts towards their cap, not any Local Authority spend on their behalf.
Found at: GOV.UK
Supported living services during coronavirus (COVID-19)
22 November 2021
Updated ‘COVID-19: guidance for supported living’ throughout in line with the latest clinical advice from UKHSA. Please refer to the summary change note in the guidance for a full breakdown of all updates.
Found at: GOV.UK
Vaccination Regulations
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 provide evidence that they have been vaccinated, subject to limited exceptions. Staff will be required to have their first vaccination dose by the 1st February 2022 to meet the deadline that 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.
News this week
Capacity Tracker – Essential Technical Enhancement & Out of Hours Admissions (Care Homes) 19 Nov 2021
To enable essential technical enhancements to be applied that will resolve issues affecting some users this week, the changes relating to Out of Hours Admissions for Care Homes have been applied to the system today. The Out of Hours changes were originally scheduled for 22 November 2021 but recognising the importance to optimise the system for providers updating the system the release has been brought forward.
Found at: Capacity Tracker
Give social care workers £1,000 bonus to protect NHS, ministers urged
Social care workers should receive an immediate bonus of up to £1,000 to stop them quitting before the winter and putting even more pressure on the NHS, ministers are being urged.
The Guardian
Social care: Johnson’s reforms face fresh hurdle in Lords
Boris Johnson is facing a showdown with Conservative peers in the House of Lords who will attempt to force his social care reforms back to the Commons, where the government suffered a significant rebellion on Monday night.
The Guardian
The England social care cap: how will it work and is it fair?
Analysis: what has been announced, what people will pay, and what the experts think.
The Guardian
Skills for Care launches ASC-WDS data service and new Benefits Bundle
Skills for Care is celebrating the launch of the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS), funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), as the leading source of workforce intelligence for the adult social care sector in England. The service first went live with its core functionality in 2019 as a minimum viable product, and since then our Workforce Intelligence team has been working on adding more useful features to the service based on the feedback from the 20,000 social care employers already inputting their data. Following this ongoing development work, we’re now shining a light on the service with its official launch. As part of this, we’ve also introduced our new Benefits Bundle which provides social care employers who have an ASC-WDS account with access to a wide range of exclusive benefits and discounts.
Found at: GOV.UK
Top up jab bookings to open up for more than one million people
From 7am tomorrow (Monday 22 November), people aged 40 to 49 will be able to book their booster vaccine, and 16 and 17-year-olds their second jabs, just seven days after the JCVI updated their advice for these age groups. Almost 500,000 people in their forties had their second dose at least six months ago, and are currently eligible to get their booster jab. People can book their booster appointment on the National Booking Service a month before they become eligible, which means they can get their top-up jabs as soon as they reach the six month mark.
Found at: NHS England
Care homes need to update data collection policies to process information about worker’s vaccination status
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. New draft guidance and templates published by Digital Social Care, clarifies that care homes need to update their information asset register, record of processing activity, and privacy notice. Care homes will also be required to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) because the Information Commissioner’s Office Guidance on Vaccination and Covid Pass Checks states: “If the use of this data is likely to result in a high risk to individuals (e.g. denial of employment opportunities) or you will be processing health data on a large scale, then you need to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) before you start processing the data.”
Found at: Digital Social Care
NHS chiefs in England call for social care staff ‘retention bonuses’
The NHS in England is facing the most difficult winter in its history and the government must urgently introduce “retention bonuses” for social care staff or risk them being lured away by retailers such as Amazon in the run-up to Christmas, according to health leaders.
Financial Times
Give care home workers a £500 Christmas bonus to stop them leaving to Amazon and Tesco, health bosses say
Care England's chief executive Professor Martin Green has also called on ministers to thank workers for fighting the virus. He said the bonus should not be taxed, and paid directly to staff instead of through their employers. 'Retention bonuses are vital to recognise the hard work that social care staff have done and continue to do. This is a thank you and to support staff retention,' he said.
Daily Mail
“I always hope Mum will recognise me” — Ed Balls on his mother’s dementia and why we need to talk about care
Drawing on his poignant experiences with his elderly mother in care, Ed Balls has made a moving documentary about the crisis in the system. He tells Susannah Butter what needs to change and why he hopes the Prime Minister watches.
Evening Standard
'Well it's not fair' - Ed Balls supports overworked carer: Could Carer's Allowance help?
CARERS have come into focus in recent months as a caring crisis continues to plague the Government and the economy. The issue was explored tonight in the latest episode of Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls.
Express