Under the radar, but almost finishing its passage through Parliament is a condition-specific Bill focused on Down Syndrome. The Down syndrome Bill had its Third Reading in the House of Lords on Friday 8 April and is now awaiting Royal Assent. When it arrives in Statute, this will only be the second Bill of its kind following the Autism Act (2009); a recent Private Member's Bill to make provision about meeting the needs of adults and children with an acquired brain injury and for connected purposes, was withdrawn in December 2021.

The Down syndrome Bill aims to make provision about meeting the needs of persons with the life-long condition, but omits key issues about employment. The Bill doesn't place a duty on the Secretary of State to produce binding guidance on health and care public bodies. Instead, the focus is on a duty to consult how these public bodies (specifically local government and NHS) meet their existing duties. There is no mechanism in the Bill to redress for lack of service, but instead, through the Health and Social Care Bill, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will be required to have a named person to ensure that local public bodies are doing what they should be doing for people with Down syndrome. It's therefore a signposting piece of legislation rather than bringing in new responsibilities. Therefore, it feels fair to ask why so much time has been spent on something that should already be happening.

In a lengthy dissection of the Bill, Neil Crowther from Social Care Future, questions the need for the Bill as it doesn’t address discrimination, including the failure to make reasonable adjustments in health, education, housing or social care.  ICBs will not have power and control over housing, education or youth offending for example, or employment for that matter. He goes on to reflect the disparity of response between those championing the Bill, whilst simultaneously voting against amending the incoming cap on social care to make it fairer for working-age people.

The Bill doesn't address the inequalities in the provision of education, because there is a Green Paper on SEND provision and the Down syndrome Bill doesn't extend to requiring education authorities to do anything at all beyond what they should be doing now. Strangely the Down Syndrome Association only heard of the Bill at First Reading and engagement with other interested parties appears to have been slow or disconnected.

There is a worrying reference to the anti-abortion agenda with anti-choice groups backing the Bill and linking it to abortion. The conclusion is that this isn't a landmark Bill. It doesn't say anything that hasn't already been legislated on and appears to serve no purpose beyond some photo opportunities to make some MPs feel good.

What it does do is demonstrate the ongoing lack of understanding from Parliament as a whole about care, health and the supporting public services that enable people with a disability to be independent in the vertical face of everyday challenges. Services fail people daily despite the immense work done by individuals and care organisations to make things better. Until decision-makers (politicians) make joining up legislation and actually enforcing it their priority with the necessary funding, new Bills will continue to muddy the waters of what the offer is.

In a disturbing echo of previous attempts to remedy the institutional treatment of people with Autism and/ or Learning Disabilities, My Life My Choice, the Oxfordshire-based self-advocacy group has bravely pulled out of the national Care and Treatment Review (CTR). The CTR is the current attempt to move people with specific conditions out of secure hospitals and into local communities. People working in this area of social care will know that the biggest policy action came in the late 1990s under the Valuing People strategy, which was eventually successful in closing long-stay NHS hospitals (the last one at Calderstones closed in 2017), but failed to stop the movement of many people affected moving from NHS into private hospitals, where scrutiny and visibility was lower. The NHS long-term plan is struggling to meet the needs of this cohort of people. Mencap said, "after the closure of Calderstones NHS England must now step up to deliver its commitment to close 35-50% of inpatient beds by 2019, by ensuring good local support is developed to in place of the out-dated, institutional care that should have been closed down decades ago.” Deadline after deadline has been missed by successive governments.

Scandals, notably Winterbourne View (2011), Whorlton Hall (2019) and Eldertree Lodge (2021) demonstrated that more urgently needed to be done and the CTR, set up in 2015, was supposed to move the remaining 3,400 people out of secure (hidden) institutions and provide support and care enabling them to be part of their local communities. Nobody has said that this is easy, as, by their nature, the reason why many people were hospitalised in the first instance is that there are complex issues. However, in seven years only 41% of people have been moved to leave over 2000 people still in long-stay hospitals. Many have died during this time or suffered further abuse or restriction. As Learning Disability Today reports, My Life My Choice is urging others involved in the CTR programme to consider whether better options for faster resettlement and resolution can be found.

This news and the strangely insipid Down syndrome Bill clearly demonstrate that so much more needs to be done to properly value and support vulnerable people in their setting of choice. The work being done by Government on the cap on care and the Fair Cost of Care are simply tinkering around the edges for political purposes. Building Back Better may banish social care from the ministerial inbox, but it will remain unfixed.

A major piece of guidance is about to launch with a consultation. Liberty Protection Safeguards, significantly delayed by the pandemic, will replace Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (DoLS).

The consultation runs until 11.45 pm on 7 July 2022 and will focus on six sets of draft legislation.

The DHSC has started to produce materials relating to the LPS, and has created a dedicated LPS document collection page.

This is a significant pile of documents to digest with over 1,000 pages in total - the draft Code of Practice runs to 518 pages alone.

For Oxfordshire, Amy Allen from Oxfordshire Council Council is leading the response across a wide range of stakeholders stretching across health, care, children's and adult services. One action is setting up small working groups in May to look at the key themes for the consultation. This helpful mapping shows:

If you have specific expertise or interest in liberty Protection Safeguards, please let us know so we can like you into the relevant working group.

The latest monthly unemployment claimant count data (for March 2022) was released by the Department of Work and Pensions on 12 April, see article on Oxfordshire Insight. 

This shows:

DHSC has not yet confirmed arrangements for this year's WDFas 'DHSC is still doing business planning'. 

Employers can still claim up until the end of May where their ASC-WDS account was up to date as of 31 March 2022. This will be the last chance for claims for 2021-22.

Commissioned by the Health and Social Care Committee, the Panel is comprised of politically impartial health and social care policy experts who- independently of the Committee- conduct evaluations of progress made against Government commitments different areas of health and social care policy. The Panel selects several commitments which is assesses throughout its evaluation. At the end of the evaluation it produces a report which includes a CQC style rating on the progress made on each commitment. This will be the Panel’s fourth evaluation and is going to look at the Government’s progress against commitments made in the area of the health and social care workforce in England. More information about the panel, including its previous evaluations, can be found here.

As part of their evaluation the Panel is holding online roundtables for people who are part of, or who have expertise in, the health and social care workforce in England. At the event, participants will be invited to share their views regarding the commitments which the Panel has chosen for its evaluation. Participants will receive a list with the commitments, and possible areas for discussion ahead of the session. The transcripts from the sessions will be anonymised and then published, in order to be used in the Panel’s report. Any attributable details e.g. names of care facilities, hospitals and similar will be removed. For full details on how they will deal with the information they collect from you please read the privacy policy　

If you, or a member of staff, is interested in taking part, please contact selcomengagement@parliament.uk When expressing an interest provide a few details about the role of the person who would like to join the session, as well as, ideally, the region they work in, and their preferred event date. Closing date for applicants is 6pm on Wednesday 27^th April. This is only open to those who work in England. 

DHSC has published a resource with links to information and support around bereavement in the social care workforce. 

There have been some meetings recently on pushing forward with the TNA post and funding.

Initial thoughts are:

There is a programme commencing at Bucks New University in September 2022, so now is the perfect time for employers to start thinking about how this role could fit into their services and who it might be appropriate for. HEE is leading on this and Skills for Care are supporting communication and engagement activity with drop-in sessions:

Additional information:

NICE guideline on Falls in older people: assessing risk and prevention

The consultation on this draft scope will close at 5 pm on Thursday 12^th May 2022.

We are recruiting to a range of roles including lay members (people using services, family members and carers, and members of the public and community or voluntary sector) to join the Committee for this guideline. You can find more information on the roles available on the Committee recruitment page on our website. Please circulate this link to any colleagues or networks you think may be interested.

If you have any further queries about this draft scope consultation, please contact me at fallsupdate@nice.org.uk.  

A series of meetings hosted by the National Care Forum has been held to support Ukraine refugees coming into the UK. Care Employers Together for Ukraine brings together Government departments and voluntary sector provider focus on refugees and displaced people to understand the complexity of systems and how care employers can help.

This week's update with more details when we have them to follow:

Care Workers’ Charity is looking at support for one-off grants and will need to fund-raise for this.

Continued pressure is happening on DHSC and MPs to review the decision to end additional funding to support full wages whilst care staff are isolating. We hope to share a link to a petition started by Hampshire Care Association shortly. in the meantime, a reminder that staff can use this link - Get an isolation note - NHS (111.nhs.uk) - to obtain a sick note without seeing a GP.

We have had a number of questions on the same issue - should you continue to complete the Capacity Tracker?

The short answer is that you are not contractually obliged to do so as this obligation ended along with IPC funding at midnight on 31 March 2022. Going forward we are the horns of a dilemma.

We recommend yes, but we're not completing it, you are.

On Wednesday 6 April 2022 the Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (PPER 2022) came into force. They amend the 1992 Regulations (PPER 1992).

Coproduce Care, is hosting a livestream with the Minister for Care, Gillian Keegan, to discuss current and future challenges affecting the Social Care sector.

A wide range of topics, including staffing, funding and the effect of the pandemic on the sector will be covered, but the care sector is invited to ask the questions.

Coproduce Care will then be joined by panel guests Belinda Schwehr, Isaac Samuels, Mark Topps, Katie Clarke, David Smallacombe and Scott Watkin.

The latest You Matter newsletter is here.

Skills for Care is looking to organise some short virtual events with Job Centre Plus and the National Careers Service and are looking for some volunteers to help with recruitment into the care sector open across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire

Please reply to Rachel.Reid@skillsforcare.org.uk

DHSC webinar on supporting implementation of the Infection Prevention and Control: Resource for Adult Social Care guidance

If a place is booked before 31 March 2022 you can get 22% off each place you book using the code 2022. 

If you are registered on ASWDC (Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set) and compliant by 31 March you can claim back up to £500 per person that completes a programme before the end of May.

Our new website for people looking to enter adult social care has been launched. A partnership of OACP, Aspire Oxford, Activate Learning and OCC, the website builds on experiences in other local areas to attract people into the sector.

The website is open to all care providers operating in Oxfordshire across all settings. Over the next few months we will add information on what the sector offers; the different roles available and support available to enable a first step into social care.

If you would like to advertise on Proud to Care, please contact Jane Wood or Diana Olszewska at hello@proudtocareoxfordshire.org.uk. Proud to Care is managed by OACP.

With that in mind, the care experts of OACP partner, Citation, have created a free guide on recruitment and retention, specifically for care providers.

From recruitment and retention, staff training, mental health and wellbeing, professional bereavement and tricky HR issues, to infection control, risk assessments and visiting arrangements, Citation can help you operate both safely and compliantly in the coming weeks and months.

To find out more or arrange a free consultation, click here or call 0345 844 1111.

Quote ‘Oxford Association of Care Providers’ when enquiring to access your preferential rates as a member.

The Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT)

View the latest DSPT webinar recording:

Data Protection Compliance in conversation with Royds Withy King - Watch it here

Come to our next webinar event 'Boost your Cyber Knowledge' with Chris White, Head of Cyber and Innovation from the Cyber Resilience Centre South East - Book here

Digital solutions are here to stay! The Better Security, Better Care programme will continue throughout 2022 - 2023. We are reviewing current activities, and the availability and format of support will change after March 2022. We strongly encourage you to contact the DSPT team now to access this free support.

If you are based in MK and have not yet been contacted by Bedfordshire Care Association who are leading on this for BLMK ICS area, please let us know and we will signpost you.

COVID-19 infection rates dashboards usually updated weekly:

Check vaccination levels across the country via this interactive map for first dose and second dose - whole population statistics.

The Oxfordshire Trusted Assessor service is currently closed. We are in discussions about what a future service might look like.

For Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, the Trusted Assessor Service is run for care homes only by Lincolnshire Care Association.

Contact: Michelle Yusuf -

The project runs also for Hinchingbrooke and Addenbrookes hospitals.

As well as a constant stream of questions and answers by email from around the country, we are also part of the CAA weekly teleconference - Wednesdays at 10am. This informs us of current concerns and potential solutions and helps inform our local communications.

We are mailing out once a week on a Wednesday, so you know when to look out for it. These updates will provide summary advice on emerging issues and signpost providers to government and other statutory agency advice as needed.

We are always keen to hear from providers, if you have anything you would like to share with provider colleagues, please send to the usual address.

We are adding new colleagues all the time.

Please let us know if there are other colleagues you would like this mailing sent to.

Now available for all Oxfordshire care providers.

Spectrum is a well-established buying consortium with an emphasis on the Care Sector including care homes, domiciliary care and supported living. They have been sourcing discounts with major suppliers for their members since 1992.