Policy Updates 13th September 2021
The following policy updates have been curated from the week commencing 13th September 2021.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
NHS Test and TRace lab teams have identified a significant number of PCR tests have been returned for analysis that have passed their expiry date. Whilst this does not pose any risk to the individual being tested, we do need you to ensure that all tests that are returned to labs are in date. Any returned tests that have expired will be classed as void and you may see an increased number of void results over the coming days.
To ensure you are using valid tests and most importantly, minimise the chance of further void results, it is important to:
Always take note of the expiry date when managing your inventory and use the tests in the order they were received.
Dispose of any tests that have expired, or are within one week of expiry.
You can find a guide to where to find the expiry date on all packaging here
If you have any urgent queries, please contact 119 for assistance.
NEW POLICY
JCVI statement, September 2021: COVID-19 booster vaccine programme for winter 2021 to 2022
Advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on a COVID-19 booster vaccine programme for winter 2021 to 2022.
Found at: GOV.UK
2021-22 Workforce Development Fund has now launched
We’re delighted to announce that the Workforce Development Fund (WDF) 2021-22 is now open to adult social care employers in England to support the development of their staff at all levels, offering funding for a wide range of qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules. The fund, which Skills for Care distributes on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, helped over 14,000 people in 2020/21.
This year the WDF will continue to provide enhanced funding for completion of leadership and management qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules. The funding will support registered managers and other frontline managers with their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certification, ensuring that they’re able to access learning opportunities to continue to develop their knowledge and skills to effectively lead and support the workforce.
Found at: Skills for Care
Young people aged 12 to 15 to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine
People aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Found at: GOV.UK
HEADLINE NEWS
A new health and social care tax will be introduced across the UK to pay for reforms to the care sector and NHS funding in England.
Boris Johnson said it would raise £12bn a year, designed to tackle the health backlog caused by the Covid pandemic and to bolster social care.
He accepted the tax broke a manifesto pledge, but said the "global pandemic was in no-one's manifesto".
However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the plan was a "sticking plaster".
Leaders in social care also warned the money was "nowhere near enough" and would not address current problems.
The tax will begin as a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance from April 2022, paid by both employers and workers, and will then become a separate tax on earned income from 2023 - calculated in the same way as National Insurance and appearing on an employee's payslip.
This will be paid by all working adults, including older workers, and the government says it will be "legally ring-fenced" to go only towards health and social care costs.
Experts warn of large hidden costs in UK’s social care shake-up
Many people will still rack up sizeable costs when it comes to paying for social care, experts say, despite government pledges to protect families from “potentially catastrophic” bills.
The Guardian
Care sector: staff are quitting, flu is coming and the elderly are fearful
There was a hollow laugh last week when the Observer asked a social care official about the crisis engulfing the sector. “Crisis? Which one?”
The Guardian
The Observer view on the weaknesses of Boris Johnson’s social care levy
Boris Johnson’s plan to “fix the crisis in social care” has arrived after 18 months of procrastination and decades of heartbreaking complaints from dementia sufferers and disabled people denied the care they need. A health and social care white paper is imminent, possibly before Christmas, that will explain how the crumbling patchwork of social care providers, most privately owned, will be knitted into the health system to provide a better service “once and for all”.
The Guardian
Over-50s to receive booster Covid vaccine for winter
Most adults will be offered a Covid booster jab in the coming months and children over 12 can receive a first dose as Boris Johnson seeks to protect Britain against a “prolonged and unpredictable” winter.
The Times | The Guardian
Care homes urge easing of rules on overseas workers to tackle staffing crisis
Care home leaders are urging the government to lift restrictions on low-paid foreign workers entering the UK to help solve a staffing crisis, which could be exacerbated by more than 70,000 staff being forced out in November if they do not get fully vaccinated.
The Guardian
Updated policy
Free-of-charge DBS applications and fast-track Barred List check service
This is just a note that the free and fast track DBS policy is still in place. This means that for Covid-19 related recruitment (the definition of which is quite generous), providers can apply for free-of-charge DBS checks, and fast-tracked barred list checks. Under this policy DBS checks continue to follow business as usual timescales, but the barred list checks are done within 24 hours, and employers can choose to appoint staff following a clear barred list check while waiting for the full DBS check – so long as other assurances are in place e.g. references - COVID-19: interim guidance on DBS and other recruitment checks | Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)
In addition, a DHSC survey is live for providers on these temporary arrangements. This survey seeks to find out how providers have found the temporary arrangements, and specifically whether they made urgent appointments and what action they took to give themselves appropriate assurances while waiting for DBS, and whether they’d like to see any element of the temporary arrangements continue. Essentially the DHSC want to understand whether these temporary arrangements give sufficient assurances on staff appointments to continue them, found at: DHSC (open till Friday)
COVID-19: guidance on protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable
Information for protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable from coronavirus (COVID-19).
14 September 2021 - Added note to confirm the end of the shielding programme, and to advise that guidance will be updated shortly.
Found at: GOV.UK
PPE distribution (England): 1 August to 31 August 2021
Experimental statistics showing the latest number of personal protective equipment (PPE) items distributed for use by health and social care services in England.
Found at: GOV.UK
Department of Health and Social Care Statement on health and social care levy
Care England has received the following response from DHSC on when funding from the new levy, £5.4bn, shall start going to the adult social care sector
“Funding from the £5.4bn for social care will be allocated from April 2022 onwards. This funding will end the risk of unpredictable care costs and include at least £500m to support the adult social care workforce. It will also be used for other policy objectives in adult social care that are referenced in ‘Building Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care’. The allocation of funding (including the funding profile from 2022/23 – 2024/25) will be agreed and announced through the Spending Review process’.”
Why have the Covid vaccination - information for staff from north somerset
Information about the Covid-19 vaccination and it is important, it also contains some FAQ’s. Please distribute to all staff who are yet to take up the vaccine. Download the information here.
NCF Members Briefing
A Plan for Health and Social Care
Earlier today, the Prime Minister announced his plan for health and social care funding and reform. The full details can be found here: Build Back Better – Our Plan for Health and Social Care. At the outset it is worth saying that the headlines and media portrayal of this plan has masked some of the contents of this plan – everything is still to play for. This must be seen as only the first step towards wider reform. Please find attached my summary of the plan and the implications - this can also be accessed via this link. Do note that there will be a white paper on wider adult social care reform later this year.
NCF has also issued a press release and blog post in response detailing our position and asks. We are very clear that more of the £36bn announced over the next three years needs to be dedicated to adult social care and that support is needed now to deal with the workforce crisis. You can access the results from our most recent survey on workforce pressures here.
Parliamentary Engagement
Over the last week we have been engaging with parliamentary stakeholders on the Health and Care Bill and social care reform. This has included notes from our July Reform Roundtables, our refreshed Reform Ambitions and a briefing paper on the Health and Care Bill.
Our aim in briefing parliamentarians was to ensure that adult social care – both the providers of it and the people supported by it – have a much better presence in any legislation and better influence within the new ICS landscape. At present, the Health and Care Bill is largely silent on social care, despite being framed as seeking to better join-up health and care at a local level. Without our suggested amendments, in our view, the legislation will fail to properly frame the ambition of better integrated roles and functions of ICSs, and will constrain future attempts to reform adult social care in England. This is all the more important after today's announcements. We are in danger of entrenching in legislation an unequal and unhelpful relationship between adult social care and the NHS, where the latter always has priority to the detriment of the former, rather than a relationship of equals – a prerequisite for successful integration.
You can access these documents in the following links:
Please feel free to share these with any parliamentary contacts you have. There will be a series of meetings of the Public Bill Committee for the Health and Care Bill to discuss amendments and clauses of the bill over the next month.
Making vaccination a condition of deployment in wider social care and NHS settings
DHSC has finally published its consultation on extending vaccination as a condition of deployment in the health and wider social care sector. The consultation opened earlier today and is open for 6 weeks until 11:45pm on 22 October. I have attached a summary of the consultation. We would encourage all of you to respond to this consultation. We will run a members’ session in a few weeks to gauge views to shape our response.
DHSC is considering whether it should make both COVID-19 vaccination and flu vaccination a requirement for deployment for those that are deployed to undertake direct treatment or personal care as part of a CQC regulated activity. Non-regulated activities are outside of the proposed scope unless the consultation response advises otherwise. We believe that the requirement for flu vaccines would also be applied to care homes due to the wording of the consultation.
This is our initial reaction:
"The new consultation on vaccination as a condition of deployment for the wider and health care sector in many ways raises more questions than it answers. It is clear that as the policy tries to take in more diverse settings and situations the complexities of implementation become ever more apparent. We know from talking to members seeking to implement this within care homes that the policy can cause division and difficulty for staff, and remain of the opinion that there is a need for much more intense support for those who remain hesitant, even in the face of dismissal. There continue to be multiple success stories of staff who with the right information and advice are changing their mind for positive reasons which will strengthen their commitment towards vaccination in the long term.
In the light of the new consultation, and the remaining questions around exemption for staff which have not yet been addressed by government, then we believe that the implementation of the policy for care homes should be delayed whilst this consultation runs, and timings for compliance for care homes to be brought in line with the rest of the care and health sector."
Workforce Crisis: NCF template letter
Please find attached a template letter you can adapt and send to your local MPs to draw their attention to the workforce pressures in social care and the lack of a plan to deal with the crisis in what was announced last Tuesday. Our most recent survey on workforce pressures clearly illustrates the situation the sector is facing. We would encourage all of you to take this opportunity to engage with your MPs. I have also attached my briefing from Tuesday outlining the government's health and social care plan and our parliamentary engagement around social care reform and the Health and Care Bill. Please feel free to direct MPs towards our Reform Ambitions and reflections on what was announced on Tuesday:
Health and Care Bill Briefing for MPs
NCF Reform Roundtable on Integrated Care Systems and Commissioning
Social Care Reform Toolkit
DHSC has published a google drive of resources, including an FAQ on the government's new plan. It can be accessed via this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HKes9SCwcGePQiWD-oa2dUfGnaedqkph?wp-linkindex=6
Spending Review
The chancellor has announced the Spending Review for 2021. HM Treasury will accept representations until 5pm on 30 September. The whole process will conclude on 27 October. Representations can be made via this portal. Guidance can be found here.
Government and Stakeholder News
Review of Personal Protective Equipment Status Required
Care Homes, Hospices and Substance Misuse providers are asked to review their Capacity Tracker updates relating to current levels of PPE. Provider's PPE Status, should be checked against each item to ensure this accurately reflects current stock levels.
Found at: Capacity Tracker
Capacity Tracker - Workforce Survey
DHSC is asking both Care Home and Home Care providers to complete a short survey that will help them better understand the workforce challenges the sector is facing, and plan what measures they could introduce to support providers. The survey should take less than 5 minutes and can be located from the Main Menu, selecting Care Home Set Up /Update tile or Home Care Set Up /Update tile then DHSC Workforce Challenges Sept '21 within the Survey's column. The survey will be available for 4 weeks.
Found at: Capacity Tracker
COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment: Workforce and HR issues
This Care Provider Alliance (CPA) webinar for adult care home managers and HR leads will look at the HR and workforce management issues of implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of deployment in adult social care homes in England.
Found at: CPA
Cyber security for care providers: reduce the risk and respond to attacks
Get top tips, up-to-date insights and practical support on how to reduce and manage cyber attacks. Join this Better Security, Better Care webinar with colleagues from the National Cyber Security Centre, the Cyber Resilience Centre (SW) and adult social care providers.
Found at: Digital Social Care
Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection launched
A Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection is to be held to honour the work of the adult social care workforce during the pandemic, and those who lost their lives.
Found at: carehome.co.uk
Health and Social Care Levy – Stakeholder Q&A
Stakeholder Q&A on the Government’s latest Health and Social Care Levy announcement. This document presents further background to the new reform measures. Care England continues to learn more details about the Government’s new plan. If members have any comments, or concerns they wish to raise with us, please email info@careengland.org.uk.
Found at: DHSC
Making vaccination a condition of deployment in the health and wider social care sector
Vaccines are the best way to protect people from COVID-19 and latest estimates suggest that 105,900 deaths and 24,088,000 infections have been prevented as a result of the COVID-19 vaccination programme (up to 20 August). Vaccinated people are less likely to get seriously ill, be admitted to hospital, or die from COVID-19 and there is evidence that they are less likely to pass the virus on to others. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 22 October 2021.
Found at: GOV.UK
Events
Campaigning for Equality of Healthcare for People with Learning Disabilities & Autism
Calling out for equality of healthcare for people with learning disabilities & autism, 29th October, 8.30 am – 4 pm, ICC, Birmingham
The event is being hosted by Care Talk magazine, and keynote speaker is Prof Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse Adult Social Care, chaired by Professor Martin Green, CEO, Care England
Book your place