Care Provider Newsletter

June 2023

Attachments for this bulletin are available for download online

Adult Social Care

Care Home Research Project

Following a successful pilot study and establishing the trial in a further 35 care homes across England, we are looking for care homes to participate in this important research in the final winter of the study which starts in September 2023. Each care home is involved for one winter period (September – May).

In this study, we want to work with care homes across England to find out whether portable air filters can prevent respiratory infections in care home residents.

Further details of the study can be found here Information for Care Homes – The AFRI-c Study (bristol.ac.uk) which details the suitability requirements.

Social Care Massive

The Social Care Massive will be a virtual, social care provider-led meeting which allows providers the chance to share their good news stories and examples of best practice within their organisation. We feel that such an event would be useful to create an environment in which providers can share and learn from one another to enhance service-user care and also to promote social care as a valuable and beneficial career path.

In order to celebrate and share all the great initiatives going on in social care within each system, we are planning to hold the Social Care Massive event on 20^th September 2023, 13:00 - 16:00. This event follows on from our first ever social care event which we held on 17^th September 2022 in which Debra Sturdy called us all to action to support the development of the social care workforce. This time we are seeking provider voices to share what they are doing and to help us plan the event and we’d love to hear back from you and invite you to assist us in planning this.”

If you would like to be involved in this virtual event or have any additional questions or suggestions, please contact Jake, directly on Jake.James@hee.nhs.uk.

Digital Permissions

The Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) is an annual self-assessment for health and care organisations. All organisations that have access to NHS patient data and systems should use this toolkit to provide assurance that they are practising good data security and that personal information is handled correctly. As a care provider, it shows you what you need to do to keep people’s information safe, and to protect your business from the risk of a data breach or a cyber attack. It covers both paper and digital records. And it reassures everyone you work with that you are taking data security seriously

All CQC-registered care providers should complete the DSPT and as this is an annual assessment you should be reviewing and Publishing your Social Care Assessment (Toolkit) each year and by 30^th June in order to provide assurance that you have the proper measures in place to ensure that this information is kept safe and secure. The Council and ICB (previous CCG) within the care home contract request support from providers on any new initiatives; with a number of digital programmes being released to providers – medicine management portal and system 1.

Karen at Care and Support West is available to support you with the toolkit should you need it – Karen can be contacted by email karen.holley@careandsupportwest.com or Tel 07540 458119

Further information can be found online.

Oliver McGowan Training

In July 2022, CQC published a new legal requirement that all health and social care providers registered with CQC must ensure that their staff receive training in how to interact appropriately with people who have a learning disability and autistic people, at a level appropriate to their role. This new legal requirement is introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022.

CQC regulated providers do not yet have to demonstrate they have completed the course but will be asked to demonstrate they have plans and are working towards completing this within the next three years. The training is currently free and there are no plans to run free training after this series so maximising the uptake now could save money for providers. There is no funding available to pay for staff to attend so providers will have to accept the cost of the time for staff to attend.

The link for providers to access the training is below and there are events taking place within B&NES (mainly at RUH) so this can be accessed locally.
https://bswtogether.org.uk/training-education/events/?_event_type=oliver-mcgowan-training

Alternatively training can be accessed via the eLearning for Healthcare website https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/about/

e-Learning for Health has free e-learning modules that include: the Oliver McGowan training on Learning Disabilities and Autism. Details on how to register and access the courses are attached.

Capacity Tracker - SW Events Comms

The sessions are aimed at Adult Social Care CQC regulated Providers. Sessions are hosted on Microsoft Teams with no prior booking required and each sessions is approximately one hour.

During the sessions discussions will include:

how to get set up on Capacity Tracker
what Capacity Tracker is and its general functionality
tips & tricks to make your service stand out
current government policy and guidance, related to Capacity Tracker
how Capacity Tracker is used to source vacancies
how Capacity Tracker benefits the health & social care system

Wed	05 July 2023	1pm	Join on your computer, mobile app or room device Click here to join the meeting Meeting ID: 393 605 422 546 Passcode: Dgiqft Download Teams \| Join on the web
Wed	12 July	1pm	Join on your computer, mobile app or room device Click here to join the meeting Meeting ID: 374 440 463 093 Passcode: HtrksW Download Teams \| Join on the web

MOCH Teams

The BSW MOCH (Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes) team is a branch of the BSW (Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon & Wiltshire) Medicines Optimisation team specialising in providing support to all care homes across the BaNES, Swindon, and Wiltshire areas with medication related queries. The MOCH Team have a medicines newsletter, if you would like to register to receive this newsletter please contact bswicb.bswmoch@nhs.net

KPI Data Submission Dates

The next Activity Co-ordinator meeting will be held on Friday 5 May at 10.30am in the Day Centre Room which is located on the ground floor at Cleeve Court Residential Home, Twerton, Bath. Please encourage your Wellbeing/Activities Co-ordinators to attend this meeting.

It’s an informal coming together of care home activity/wellbeing practitioners to share experiences and ideas. This session will include a discussion on the different types of memory and how residents are affected by dementia. This is an opportunity to meet other staff in other homes and look to improve the quality of activity in care homes. It’s also a chance to problem solve certain cases and gain hints and tips from each other and try and bring activity into every day care practices.

Care Home Forums

The next Care Home Forum is taking place on Tuesday 22 August 2023 from 9.30am until 12pm. This event will be held face to face at The Open Space above The Library in Keynsham High Street. Parking is available at Bath Hill East car park, https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/bath-hill-east-car-park-keynsham or Ashton Way car park https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/ashton-way-car-park-keynsham.