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Welcome to this week's newsletter, published for adult social care providers, issued on behalf of Devon County Council's Director of Adult Social Care Services and Director of Public Health and NHS Devon’s Chief Nursing Officer.
This week we are emphasising the need for infection prevention and control measures as we move towards a world with more social contact. We cannot let our guard down regardless of vaccination successes.
Plenty of national guidance is being updated as part of the recovery plan and we are keeping it up to date on our Provider Engagement Network website.
PPE guidance reminder
As the lockdown eases then correct use of PPE and other infection prevention and control measures are more important than ever. Providers must strictly adhere to national guidance on how to work safely in care homes and other social care settings. If there are any exceptions to this then they must have a clearly documented risk assessment completed by the provider that outlines areas of the guidance variation, rationale, any risks and what mitigating actions or controls have been put in place. Any such exceptions should only be considered if providers feel a particular circumstance leaves them with no option.
Links to national guidance for adult social provision can be found on the PEN website.
Consultation launched on staff COVID-19 vaccines in care homes with older adult residents
Staff in care homes with older adult residents in England may be required to have a COVID-19 vaccine to protect residents from the virus.
Care home residents can have two named visitors
Following the recent government announcement, the Department of Health and Social Care is pleased to confirm that every care home resident can now nominate two named visitors, who are able to enter the care home for regular visits. These visitors must be tested before entry to the home, must wear appropriate personal protective equipment and follow all other infection control measures during their visit.
Full visiting guidance is available on the Government's website.
 Latest Government guidance updates
How to work safely in care homes
Guidance for those working in care homes providing information on how to work safely during this period of sustained transmission of COVID-19.
Introduced recommendations to change PPE after each episode of personal care, and new recommendations around use of eye protection when delivering personal care within 2 metres.
Content updated: Fluid-repellent (Type IIR) surgical mask section, Type II surgical mask section.
Testing for adult day care centre workers
Information which sets out how open day care centres providing essential care in England can order weekly Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for their staff.
Updated wording on main page to reflect current COVID-19 rules.
Testing for personal assistants
Guidance on how personal assistants working in adult social care in England can access twice-weekly COVID-19 testing.
Updated to reflect the policy change for personal assistants to conduct 2 LFTs a week and not to test with PCR unless to use for a confirmatory PCR following a positive LFT.
Getting tested
Information on coronavirus testing, including who is eligible for a test and how to get tested.
New campaign urges public to get tested twice a week
Everyone in England is now eligible for free rapid COVID-19 tests, twice a week.
COVID-19 vaccination updates
Statement on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following MHRA update.
The government's statement following updated advice from the UK's medicines regulator.
Vaccination and blood clotting
Information on the benefits and risks of the COVID-19 vaccination.
Use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine: JCVI statement
Statement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
New advice for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
Following the national press conference, which sets out new advice for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the following have been issued:
Resources from Public Health England to help communicate the latest advice include:
DHSC has also released a Q&A on the National Bookings Service and AstraZeneca Vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccines have prevented 10,400 deaths in older adults
Public Health England analysis suggests the UK COVID-19 vaccination programme has so far prevented thousands of deaths in those aged 60 and above.
There is now increasing evidence that vaccines help to reduce transmission, therefore it is likely that an even higher number of deaths will have been prevented by the vaccination programme.
AZ vaccine safety remains the number one priority
The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations has published new guidance about the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Everybody who has already had a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose of the same brand, irrespective of age, except for the very small number of people who experienced blood clots with low platelet counts from their first vaccination.
We will continue to share all of the latest updates as we have them, and hope to be able to update next week on the Moderna vaccine and when we expect to start delivering this in Devon, increasing the range of available vaccines we have to three.
COVID-19 vaccination and blood clotting information leaflet
Timing of second dose of vaccine following positive coronavirus result
In the case of a positive COVID-19 test, people should be advised they should wait four weeks after the result to have the COVID-19 vaccine. This applies for both first or second doses of vaccine, even if it delays the vaccine past the 12 week suggested gap.
Latest Capacity Tracker changes
- Second COVID-19 vaccination questions on Capacity Tracker
The second vaccination questions should be live by Friday 16 April, with the Help/What’s new section updated for support.
The Capacity tracker Team has restarted their weekly Q&A sessions. You can start attending them from Tuesday 20 April (from 1.00pm to 2.00pm) to help with any aspect of the tracker. You should have received an invitation to join using MS Teams.
- Comparisons of your data against other local/regional data
This week Capacity Tracker data will be available to all provider groups – care homes, home care, hospices, substance misuse and community rehabilitation organisations, giving reports at organisation level and national level. The Capacity Tracker team is also introducing a new Comparative Analysis, which will allow users to view their location data against a local or regional geographical data set. Workshop invitation have been sent out about this. Please see the Help/What’s new section on the Capacity Tracker for further details.
For all queries please contact the Capacity Tracker team directly:
Online medication training
The online Foundation Course in Medicines Administration provides the knowledge required to administer medicines in a safe and systematic way. The course breaks down medicines administration into a 12-step process that gets staff working systematically and methodically, checking each step as they go. The course comes with a robust theory assessment.
The Virtual Medicines Round is an online competence assessment which tests a learner’s skills at checking the six rights of medicines administration. They are presented with a number of medicines and their corresponding chart entries, some medicines contain deliberate mistakes. This assessment is based on our simulated medicines rounds that have been shown to reduce medication errors by 36%.
We have 75 licenses available for all DCC adult social care providers, two licenses per organisation.
Please email Ruth Haynes for more information and to book.
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