Policy Updates 14th November 2022
The following policy updates have been curated from the week commencing 13th November 2022.
93rd update BNSSG
Please see below the 93rd update for care providers in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
This week, BNSSG would like to let you know more about:
1. Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations
2. Winter readiness toolkit
3. National standards of healthcare cleanliness
4. Health and wellbeing lead for social care
5. Workforce Development Fund applications open
6. Trainee Nursing Associate and Assistant Practitioner roles
7. NHS Mail for care providers – drop-in sessions
8. Useful information and guidance
1. Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations
Colleagues from across our health and care system have come together in this short film to share their reasons for getting their flu and Covid-19 booster vaccinations.
We are heading into a challenging winter and contracting Covid-19, flu or both can be very serious, particularly for those at risk. Getting your flu and Covid-19 vaccinations are two of the most important things you can do to keep yourself and those you care for safe this winter.
Ways staff can get their Covid-19 booster:
• Book an appointment using the online National Booking Service or by calling 119.
Front line health and social care staff can self-declare to book their Covid-19 seasonal booster.
• Attend any of the walk-in clinics in our area without an appointment – details of these can be found at www.grabajab.net.
• Staff members who are under 18 can book an appointment on the National Booking Service or attend a walk-in clinic that offers the appropriate vaccine for people aged 16+. Details of walk-in clinics and the ages they cater for can be found at www.grabajab.net.
Ways staff can get their flu vaccine:
• Visit a local pharmacy or contact their GP to request a flu vaccination.
• Staff members aged 50 or over will be invited for their flu vaccine by their GP.
• If you have your flu vaccine outside your employer organisation, please log your vaccination with your employer
Please also see the attached flu and Covid-19 FAQ document which gives some answers to key questions our vaccinators have been asked about both vaccines.
2. Winter readiness toolkit
The UKHSA Infection Prevention and Control and Winter Readiness Toolkit is designed to help managers and staff in care homes and other residential care settings with planning and preparation for winter infections and outbreaks, and in outbreak recognition and management.
The resources are quick-reference documents, designed to be used as needed for your setting, by staff, residents and visitors.
The toolkit can be found here.
3. National standards of healthcare cleanliness
The Infection Prevention and Management (IPM) Cell is excited to announce that the first nursing care home is booked for its external validation and will be able to display their star ratings before Christmas.
For those who haven't yet begun the process or are feeling daunted the IPM team is available to assist with advice and support and have adapted cleaning specifications and cleanliness charters that can be adapted for individual settings. They can be contacted at bnssg.covid.ipc@nhs.net.
There is a video available here for those who missed the previous taught session.
4. Health & Wellbeing Lead for Social Care
Alethea Mitzen is the Health & Wellbeing Lead for Social Care. She is helping to support individuals, managers and teams working in social care to be aware of, and to access free local, regional and national health and wellbeing initiatives.
Please see attached her role overview (which includes her contact details) for ways in which she can help you in her role.
5. Workforce Development Fund applications open
Care & Support West has been awarded £70,000 to dispense via Care and Support West Workforce Development Fund (WDF) Partnership. The WDF is funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) disseminated by Skills for Care. It supports the provision of high-quality care and the continuing professional development (CPD) of staff across the adult social care sector by providing a contribution towards the costs of vocational learning. The fund allows you to claim back money towards the costs of workers completing a broad range of adult social care qualifications, learning programs, and digital learning modules.
Karen Holley will be the main point of contact and her role is to help you to access and claim funding. Anyone who has been holding their completed certificates, please send them through to Karen ASAP.
For further information on the scheme and to enquire please see here.
6. Trainee Nursing Associate and Assistant Practitioner roles
The Trainee Nursing Associate (TNA) and Assistant Practitioner (AP) roles have been implemented in England to bridge the gap between support workers and Registered Nurses and Allied Health Professionals to deliver hands-on, person-centred care as part of a multidisciplinary team in a range of settings.
Health Education England (HEE) currently have funding in place to upskill the social care workforce by providing full funding for these two-year, Level 5 apprenticeships for appropriately skilled care assistants or support workers. Additional funding for employers is also available to help with ancillary needs of the trainees, such as supervision or placement support.
The successful completion of these apprenticeship programmes will support social care providers to enhance the skills and professional confidence of their current workforce.
These roles also offer a career progression pathway for health and social care support workers to increase staff retention and satisfaction.
The apprenticeship levy can be used to fund TNA and AP programmes and will cover the cost of the training and assessment (including end-point assessment) up to the maximum of the assigned funding band. HEE also provides funding of £4,000 per apprentice per year to employers, which rises to £15,000 per apprentice per year for those working in the Learning Disability and Autism fields for at least 50% of the time.
Please see this link for more information about funding.
Skills for Care are also running a series of webinars with the theme of “Embracing Apprenticeships”. These are aimed at social care employers to support them to understand how social care apprenticeships can make a positive contribution to their organisation and includes the Nursing Associate apprenticeship. For further information and to book please see here.
To find out more and/or to connect with others who have introduced TNA’s and AP’s into their teams – contact nursingassociates.sw@hee.nhs.uk.
7. NHSmail for care providers – drop-in sessions
The NHSmail team continue to offer care providers a drop-in session fortnightly on Wednesdays from 2.00-2.30pm to support with NHSmail queries.
There is no agenda or slides, but an open session to give you the opportunity to ask questions on NHSmail.
No registration is required to attend but please note this session is for care providers only and not those in supportive roles for NHSmail.
Please click on this link to join the session on the day.
8. Useful information and guidance
• If you are ever unsure about the identity of someone claiming to be from the CQC, there are some simple checks you can use.
• The Health Protection Team at UK Health Security Agency are continuing to hold a weekly 3pm Friday session for social care providers. This has now moved to a Microsoft Teams meeting with new dial in details. This takes you straight to the meeting.
• Capacity tracker Q&A sessions run every Tuesday between 1pm and 2pm. Use the event link to join and learn more.
• For information and guidance, visit our online resource library for care providers, which is located on the Sirona care & health website.
• As a reminder, if you find any faulty web links in our weekly update, or have any suggestions for content, please contact bnssg.careprovidersc19@nhs.net.
National Capacity Tracker Completion Deadline
The deadline for the next mandated data submission of the National Capacity Tracker is approaching, and we wanted to give you a quick update regarding the potential fines.
Each month, on the 14th, the Department of Health and Social Care requires that care homes and home care providers update the National Capacity Tracker.
Up until this point, there have not been any fines for non-compliance, but that will change from November.
What you need to do
Make sure you complete your updates on the National Capacity Tracker by the 14th of each month.
However, we are asking all our providers to please complete the National Capacity Tracker form each week. The reason for this is that it gives us the best chance to identify any potential problems and to help support you.
How much are the fines?
The level of the fines will be the same as a provider’s CQC registration fee.
As an example:
a care home with 31-35 service users could be looking at a fine of £5,023
a larger care home with 56-60 service users could be looking at a fine of £8,792
a home care provider with 20 clients could be looking at a fine of £1,325
a larger home care provider with 40 clients could be looking at a fine of £2,411
Who issues the fines?
The National Capacity Tracker team is administering and enforces all aspects of the fines on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.
Local authorities are not involved in any aspect of this process.
It is worth noting that our providers are doing an amazing job updating their information regularly. You have nothing to worry about, and we thank you for your support.
Please do everything in your power to make sure you do not receive a fine, as it could be significant.
You may also want to ensure that more than one person in your organisation can update the National Capacity Tracker, just in case someone is on holiday or away from the office and/or not feeling well.
Help and support
If you require any assistance with refreshing or updating your information, please just call the Support Centre on 0191 691 3729 (Mon-Fri 8 am-5 pm) or send an email to necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net
Employment tribunals: Trends, top issues, and how to get prepared
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