Care Provider Covid-19 Newsletter
July 2022
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Attachments for this bulletin are available for download online
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Following our successful World Hand Hygiene event held at Keynsham we are organising a futher event to be held at The Hollies Midsomer Norton – 9th August 2022. From 10:00 – 15:00, looking forward to seeing you, your staff, friends and family. The event is open to all.
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- Hand hygiene is one of the most important procedures for preventing the spread of infection.
- All staff should have training on hand hygiene, it is best practice that this is provided on a regular basis, e.g. annually. It is essential that everyone takes responsibility to ensure that the care provided is carried out in a safe manner.
- Residents should be encouraged to wash hands or use skin wipes after using the toilet and before eating and drinking.
- It is best practice to be ‘Bare Below the Elbows’ to facilitate effective hand hygiene when delivering direct care.
- The use of liquid soap, warm running water and paper towels, is sufficient in most circumstances.
- Alcohol based handrubs are a suitable alternative unless hands are visibly dirty or soiled, or when caring for residents with vomiting and/or diarrhoea, or Clostridioides difficile.
- Staff should know when to wash their hands and have an appropriate poster displayed in the home as a reminder, e.g. ‘Your 5 moments for hand hygiene’.
- Hand hygiene is important before putting on and after removal of each item of personal protective equipment, e.g. pair of gloves, apron, or domestic gloves.
- It is recommended that, for assurance purposes, annual audits to assess the standard of staff hand hygiene are carried out. Please see attachment for the hand hygiene poster.
If you would like a refresher on hand hygiene please drop us an email at– IPC@bathnes.gov.uk we will be in contact to arrange a suitable day and time – your staff can take the ‘ultra violet light box challenge’
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Current Guidance
Please refer to the links below for full details.
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Visiting resources
For information on visiting during an outbreak please see the two attachments for more information.
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Outbreak testing for two or more positive cases within a care setting
Just a reminder of the testing required in accordance with current government guidelines with two or more positive cases within a setting:
If you are advised to initiate whole home outbreak testing, in addition to completing rapid response testing for staff, all staff and residents should conduct both an LFD test and a PCR test on day 1 of the outbreak and another LFD test and PCR test between days 4 and 7. The LFD test will allow you to identify and isolate the most infectious cases immediately whilst awaiting PCR results, therefore reducing the risk of the virus spreading.
Please see attached Testing Flow Chart.
If you have any questions or queries please email IPC@bathnes.gov.uk and one of the team will get back to you.
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Current guidance on mask wearing
Mask wearing for visitors
A face mask when visiting a care home is still a requirement for visitors, particularly when moving through the home. Individual approaches may be needed as the wearing of face masks may cause distress to some residents. In circumstances where wearing a face mask causes distress to a resident, face masks may be removed when the visit is not in a communal area of the care home. Removal of the mask in non-communal areas may also be considered following a risk assessment if it is hindering communication, or in the case that the visitor is eating or drinking. However, other mitigations should be considered, including limiting close contact, increased ventilation (while maintaining a comfortable temperature)
If you would like to print off a poster to remind visitors to wear a mask please see attached.
Mask wearing for staff
Face masks should be worn by all care workers and encouraged for visitors in care settings and when providing care in people’s own homes, irrespective of whether the person being cared for is known or suspected to have COVID-19 or not. This is sometimes referred to as ‘universal masking’ or ‘source control’ and is a means of preventing any spread of infection from the mask wearer.
The guidance for adult social care has not changed and mask wearing is still required. Until any changes are announced all the current guidance and IPC measures still apply.
As soon as we are aware of any changes we will let the care providers know.
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Admission During an Outbreak
Care homes who wish to take admissions during this time should follow the B&NES Council Discharge Process for admission of patients to care homes during periods of outbreak and complete the BNES Council Care Home Admission risk-assessment, to ensure that it is safe to accept the admission for all concerned. The Local Authority Public Health Team, Commissioner for Adult Social Care and the Infection, Prevention and Control Team are available to provide support and advice to aid this process.
The purpose of the process and risk assessment is to assure confidence for the resident, their family, your staff and current residents of safety, during this period of high community rates of COVID-19 infection.
Please note that as per the guidance the final decision to accept an admission lies with the Registered Care Manager.
If you are unsure about whether the admission/discharge is a known Covid contact we would recommend you isolate them for 10 days, with the option of release early as per the guidance.
Please contact the IP&C team if you want to take an admission if any of the following apply:
- You are currently under outbreak restrictions
- The admission/discharge is Covid positive
- The admission/discharge is a known Covid contact
If you have and questions or queries please email IPC@bathnes.gov.uk and one of the team will get back to you.
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Mandatory training on learning disability and autism
From 1 July 2022, the Health and Care Act (see paragraph 181 below) requires health and social care providers registered with CQC, to ensure that their staff receive training on learning disabilities and autism appropriate to their role. This new legal requirement follows Baroness Sheila Hollins successful amendment in the Lords.
Please see attachment for more details.
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New phone number and email address for Safeguarding adults referrals
Following a transfer of service back to Bath & North East Somerset Council on 1st July 2022, the number to ring if you suspect an adult is being abused or neglected (this could be you or someone you know) will be 01225 394200.
Phone lines are open Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 5pm and Fridays 8.30am to 4.30pm; at all other times, call the Emergency Duty Social Work team on 01454 61 51 65 (evenings, weekends and bank holidays). If you think someone is in immediate danger, ring the emergency services on 999.
You can also report a concern via email; there is a new email address to use for safeguarding referrals; please use Safeguarding_Adults@bathnes.gov.uk.
Keeping people in Bath & North East Somerset safe is everyone’s business. Thank you to everyone who helps us to safeguard adults at risk in Bath and North East Somerset.
More information can be found on the Bath & North East Somerset Community Safety and Safeguarding Partnership website.
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Safeguarding training
Safeguarding Training is also available and details of how to join can be found on the link Bath & North East Somerset Community Safety and Safeguarding Partnership website.
Managers will need to create an account as detailed in the attached booking guide which can be found on the safeguarding training section.
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Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics
There's still time to grab your Covid-19 vaccination first, second or booster doses.
Anyone aged 5 years old and over can book their vaccination appointment online or find a walk-in clinic on the NHS website. You need to be registered with a GP (or call 119) to book online.
You do not need to book or be registered with a GP to use a walk-in clinic.
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Grab a jab
If you're planning to attend a walk-in, please check the 'grab a jab' website to make sure the site is open on the day.
If you’ve had a positive Covid-19 test, you need to wait before getting any dose of the vaccine:
- 4 weeks, or 28 days if you're aged 18+ and or if you're an at risk 12-17 year old
- 12 weeks, or 84 days if you're aged 12-17
This starts from the date you had symptoms, or the date of the positive test if you didn't have any symptoms. If you or your child have had symptoms of Covid-19, but haven't had a test, you should wait until your symptoms are better to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Talk to a healthcare professional at the site.
Upcoming clinics
There are a series of Covid-19 vaccination clinics taking place across Bath and North East Somerset this summer. If you haven't had your first, second or booster doses, there is still time to get yours.
From 10-5 at Keynsham Scout Hut, Ashton way, Keynsham, BS31 2UF on:
From 11-6pm at Bath City Football Club, 105 High St, Twerton, Bath, BA2 1DB on:
- 5 August
- 19 August
- 7 September
- 30 September
From 11-5.30pm at Bath Citadel Salvation Army, Green Park Road, Bath, BA1 1XE on:
- 4 August
- 11 August
- 18 August
- 25 August
- 1 September
- 8 September
- 15 September
- 22 September
- 29 September
From 10-5pm at Fairfield Park Health Centre, Tyning lane, Camden Road, Bath, BA1 6EA on:
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Grab a cab
‘Grab a Cab’ is open to anyone living in Bath and North East Somerset who is having difficulties getting to a COVID-19 vaccination site. The ‘Grab a Cab’ initiative means residents can now hire a free taxi to get to their vaccination appointment.
To use the service, the COVID-19 vaccination must be pre-booked and the service user will need to show evidence of the appointment to the taxi driver. Evidence can include a screenshot on a mobile phone or tablet, or a printout.
To book the taxi, the person will need to call V-Cars on 01225 46 46 46 and say they would like to book a taxi to a vaccination site on account quoting:
- Account number: BA-TTV 01
- Account name: Grab a Cab
- Password: Vaccination site
Once the taxi is booked, the taxi driver will pick the person up and take them to their appointment. Please be aware that the return journey must be within an hour of the appointment time.
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COVID-19 booster and flu jab this autumn
On coronavirus (COVID-19) boosters, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has now published its final recommendations for this autumn’s programme.
Under the advice, those eligible for a further dose will be:
- all adults aged 50 years and over
- those aged 5 to 49 years in a clinical risk group, including pregnant women
- those aged 5 to 49 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
- those aged 16 to 49 years who are carers
- residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults
- frontline health and social care workers
The full article is available online.
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Mental Health Campaign – Lift someone out of loneliness
Feeling lonely is something that all of us can experience at any point and it can have a huge impact on our wellbeing. It’s important to remember that these feelings can pass and that there are lots of ways we can help each other too.
Fancy a cuppa? Fancy a walk? Sometimes reaching out to each other with as little as three words can make a big difference.
As part of the Better Health: Every Mind Matters campaign, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are encouraging people to ‘Lift Someone Out of Loneliness’ by taking a simple action to help someone who may be feeling lonely. If we do this regularly, we can all help to lift each other up.
Find out how you can help to lift someone out of loneliness.
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Looking after your wellbeing
With the ongoing pressures we are facing to deliver critical services, we would like to remind you that help and support is available for health and social care staff in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW).
The BSW Wellbeing Matters team can provide direct access to psychologists and registered mental health clinicians who will use their expertise to help you access support. The BSW Wellbeing Matters Team provides consultation, advice and support to individuals and teams and can help services think about the wellbeing of their staff and offer advice and support as appropriate.
To contact the team to request support, please call 0800 953 9003 and leave a message on the answer phone or alternatively by email - awp.bswwellbeinghub@nhs.net
To find out more about the BSW Wellbeing Matters service visit: http://www.awp.nhs.uk/advice-support/bsw-wellbeing-matters/
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ASC_Commissioning@bathnes.gov.uk
Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath, BA1 1JQ
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