apologies for the V word.
New guidance for adult social care to better protect the most vulnerable against COVID-19
- Advice sets out who should visit those in care and what to do if a positive case is identified or if someone displays symptoms
- NHS working with providers to ensure people can receive best possible care in their communities
- NHS asked to look at measures including tele-care and digital appointments
Vulnerable adults receiving social care will be better protected by new guidance issued today to councils and care providers as the Government works to delay the spread of COVID-19.
The guidance covers a variety of scenarios relating to care homes, staff and providers who care for people in their own homes to ensure older people and those with pre-existing conditions and care needs who receive support are best protected.
However it seems to ignore those on Direct Payments who are both employers and those needing care and support.
Elderly people and those with underlying health conditions are much more likely to develop serious complications. Anyone who is suspected of having COVID-19, with a new continuous cough or high temperature, should not visit care homes or people receiving home care and should self-isolate at home.
People receiving care will be isolated in their rooms if they have symptoms of coronavirus. To ensure they can continue to receive the care they require, care staff will use protective equipment to minimise the risk of transmission.
This seems to only be gloves and plastic aprons.
Building on existing strong local relationships, the NHS will work with care providers where necessary to make sure people have the best possible care and remain in the community.
GPs have been asked to look at the possibilities of offering digital appointments to provide advice and guidance to patients and potentially their families.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“I understand how worried people most in need of care will be about coronavirus, and how concerned families around the country will be for their loved ones. And I want everyone to know we are working around the clock to ensure we do everything possible to reduce the risk vulnerable and elderly people face.
“Public safety is my top priority and we are clear people in care should follow the same tried and tested protocols everyone else is following. These include good hand hygiene and self-isolating where necessary, allowing our fantastic care workforce to keep them well.
“We are working closely with partners from across the social care sector to ensure local authorities, care providers and our health and social workforce are prepared to take action to protect our most vulnerable.
“Local authorities will work with the NHS and care providers to bring together their pre-existing contingency preparations and make sure each decision is made with the best public health and clinical advice at its heart.”
Councils have been told to map out all care and support plans to prioritise people who are at the highest risk and contact all registered providers in their local area to
- To support local areas, the Government has launched a new taskforce bringing together senior experts across sectors to tackle the outbreak of coronavirus. It brings together experts from across key sectors, including adult social care, to assess Local Resilience Forum plans, and provide support and advice to ensure that they are robust.
- More information on the local taskforce: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/taskforce-to-bolster-local-response-to-coronavirus (page not found at present using this link)
- It is aimed at local authorities, and registered providers of care and support delivered to people in their own homes, including community health services. There will be separate guidance issued by Public Health England advising individuals, their families and informal carers what they should do to maintain support in their own homes and keep themselves as safe as possible, if they are advised to isolate themselves.
- Provision of care and support in people’s home is largely an emergency service, in that most care and support cannot be deferred to another day without putting individuals at risk of harm. It is therefore vital that these services are prioritised. This guidance is designed to support that.
- Individuals employed on zero-hour contracts may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay if their average earnings are at least £118 per week (calculated over an eight-week period). However, those who are ineligible are able to claim Universal Credit and/or contributory Employment and Support Allowance depending on their personal circumstances.
Steps for home care providers to maintain delivery of care
Home care providers are advised to:
- review their list of clients, and ensure that it is up to date, including levels of informal support available to individuals. Providers should consider how they could benefit from sharing this information electronically with local partners, if they receive a legitimate request, including what the dataset might be
- work with local authorities to establish plans for mutual aid, taking account of their business continuity plans, and consider arrangements to support sharing of the workforce between home care providers, and with local primary and community services providers; and with deployment of volunteers where that is safe to do so
- note the arrangements that local authorities, CCGs, and NHS 111 are putting in place to refer vulnerable people self-isolating at home to volunteers who can offer practical and emotional support.
Whilst everyone is in the grips of this uncertain and worrying time, not everyone has the added burden of knowing that a member of their family, who happens to be severely disabled and who is reliant on 24/7 care within their own home, is faced with the prospect of having no support or backup should they or their carers get the virus. I’ve contacted social services requesting help and been told that, as care is not provided by an agency & my disabled daughter chose to employ her own carers under the direct payment scheme it is up to her (or her family) to ensure there is care ! In addition we are not entitled to any PPE and we can’t use the direct payment money to buy any protective aprons/sanitiser for carers either which puts this at more risk. I hope the government amend their guidance and help us because we and other disabled people and families who use direct payments are clearly being discriminated against at a time when we are being told the vulnerable should be protected!
Janet please email us mail@dpac.uk.net
Where is the guidence for us 8million plus (family carers). Nobody is representing us, nobody is listening. We don’t want praise, we want acknowledgement that the 20million+ we care for is a legitimate caring group. We have no union, we have no statutory sick pay, we have no carers alliwance increase in order to travel to many supermarkets to get ours/loved ones WEEKLY sanitary products, incontinence aids, wet wipes, lactose or gluten free medication, cleaning materials nevermind food. We have no help extra supporting our dissabled siblings, children and parents, we have novextra services to help keeping our loved ones safe and isolated, we have no extra help in how to deal with our usual emergencies. Seriously the forgotten carers and vulnerable.