Join our regular networks and share your concerns, find support and discuss the latest news.
Apologies that this arrives with you later than our New Year's resolution intended. Hopefully business as usual next week.
Update to Outbreaks Guidance
The guidance for covid-19 outbreaks has been formally updated. UKHSA has stated that with immediate effect, outbreaks of Omicron variant SARS-CoV-2 in care homes can now be managed as per standard outbreak protocols (as was the case with Alpha and Delta). Public health actions and the duration of outbreak restrictions will revert to those used under the standard variant approach. Specific changes include Recovery testing in Omicron-driven outbreaks will revert back to the standard 14 day period. Outbreak control restrictions may be lifted if no new cases are detected at this point. UKHSA continues to advise on the importance of rigorous implementation of all IPC measures and reiterate the importance of COVID-19 booster vaccination for eligible staff and patients as a key protection.
This means that recovery testing will be undertaken at day 14 (rather than day 28) and following the results, and a risk assessment, an agreement can be made for restrictions to be stood down. Operational guidance is being updated and Health Protection Teams will be made aware of the changes imminently.
The standard 14-day management may have exceptions based on local risk assessment where extension of restrictions are required. This local risk assessment will be conducted by UKHSA staff in partnership with Local Authority public health teams.
Confirmatory PCR tests temporarily suspended
  • Following a positive LFD, there will be no need for a confirmatory PCR apart from in specific circumstances. However, anyone who has symptoms should continue to take a PCR test and follow the self-isolation guidance. See Section 2.2.
  • Test to release – Section 2.2 sets out how a staff member who has had a positive LFD or PCR test result can end their 10-day isolation early. If they have negative LFD results on days 6+7 they can return to work (we are clarifying whether this is on day 7 or 8) but they must continue to take LFD tests for the remainder of the 10 days. If the staff member’s LFD test result continues to be positive on the 10th day, they should continue to take daily LFD tests, and can return to work after a single negative LFD test result. If the staff member’s LFD test result is still positive on the 14th day, they can stop testing and return to work on day 15.
  • When does the self-isolation period begin? – Clarity has been added that the self-isolation period if you test positive begins from symptoms onset or from a positive result, whether that is from a PCR or LFD. See Section 2.2.
  • Testing within 90 days – Individuals who have received a positive PCR or LFD result should be exempt from routine PCR testing within 90 days apart from in certain circumstances. Therefore, they should continue with routine asymptomatic LFD testing during this 90-day period. Advice is also provided on how to handle positive cases within this period. See Section 4 
This guidance was further updated in answer to this question:
Q. If a member of staff tests positive through LFT, do they continue with routine weekly (PCR) testing, or pause for 90 days?
A.Asymptomatic staff, patients and residents who do not have severe immunosuppression, and who have previously tested positive for COVID by LFD OR PCR test should be exempt from routine testing by PCR test within 90 days from their initial illness onset or test date. So they should pause routine PCR testing for 90 days following a positive LFD.
A number of sector leaders have written to Local Authorities promoting visiting and specifically for visitors to become an Essential Care Giver.
The letter acknowledges the hard work that home managers are carrying out to ensure visiting remains open as much as possible, but suggests that, to mitigate against severe effects of isolation, relatives could be nominated as an Essential Care Giver. A poster has been designed for homes to promote this to regular visitors and a factsheet to help relatives understand more.
As from yesterday (11 January), UKHSA announced that confirmatory PCR tests have been temporarily suspended for positive lateral flow test results. People who receive a positive LFT result (and do not have symptoms) will not need to take a confirmatory PCR test and will be required to self-isolate immediately from the date of the test. The LFT result should be reported using the government website.
As suggested last week, this also applies to adult social care, but any regular testing regime involving PCR testing which you deploy remains in force. This change will be temporary until the number of cases comes down.
Those with COVID-19 symptoms should continue to test using a PCR, rather than an LFT , and self-isolate if positive - even if they have had a recent negative LFT result.
As stated last week, there are a few situations where people will need to continue to use PCR tests:
  • Those who are eligible for the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment must have a confirmatory PCR test
  • Those participating in research or surveillance programmes may need to continue to take confirmatory PCR tests
  • Those who have been identified as being eligible for new antiviral treatments will need to take a confirmatory PCR to access the treatment.
The guidance allows people to leave self-isolation as early as day 8, providing they have a negative LFT on day 6 and 7, and continue to have negative LFTs up to and including day 10. We realise there is ambiguity around what happens if someone continues to test positive on day 10 and onward - see below. 
NHS Test and Trace has acknowledged that there are delays for turnaround of PCR results:
An update on PCR test turnaround times 
The emergence of the omicron variant has created unprecedented demand for testing and staff shortages in laboratories. This is causing delays in the processing of some PCR tests. 
We are working hard to process the current backlog of tests and are taking steps to ensure that we can minimise the risk of samples being voided because of processing delays. 
Results are provided on an individual basis and anyone who receives a void test result should take another test. 
Staff who are symptomatic should continue to self-isolate while waiting for a PCR result, and staff who are a contact of a positive case should continue to wait for a negative PCR test result before returning to work.
119 are receiving extremely high call volumes because of this issue.
We will provide further updates via email. 
We recognise the concern that delays of these kind cause in care settings, please accept our apologies that this situation has arisen and rest assured we are working hard to reduce turnaround times.
Thank you
NHS Test and Trace
Liverpool Social Care Partnership (LSCP) has been commissioned to work with Adult Social Care providers, service users and families across England, to research and highlight the importance of data & cyber security when choosing a care provider. This work was commissioned by Better Security, Better Care on behalf of the Department of Health.  
LSCP is looking for service users and their advocates/families who are willing to take part in some research to help us establish the current understanding of data/cyber security within Adult Social Care. We would appreciate your help and assistance in reaching out to organisations and individuals who may wish to take part. 
Participants will be asked to either
  • Complete a questionnaire (online or paper) 
  • Attend a focus group to discuss what is data / cyber security and what should we look for when choosing a care provider (This may be face to face or online    via Zoom, dependent on location and covid status) 
  • Take part in a one-to-one interview to answer questions to establish their understanding and expectations.
If any interested individuals require the information in a specific format please contact LSCP:
Adult Social Care Omicron Support Fund Grant Conditions
This was first announced on 29 December as a top-up to the Infection Control and Testing Fund round 3. These grant conditions are in addition to those for the following:
The purpose of the fund is to support the sector with measures already covered by the infection prevention and control (IPC) allocation of the Infection Control and Testing Fund (round 3) to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission within and between care settings through effective IPC practices. This grant cannot be used for measures already funded by the workforce recruitment and retention funds. The grant conditions also stress that while this grant acts like a ‘top-up’ to the Infection Control and Testing Fund (round 3) it can’t be used to ‘double-fund’ the same activity, it must be something on top of this.
The money will be paid in full in January 2022 and we assume should be used for activities in January 2022.
It was announced on 9 November 2021 that vaccination will become a condition of deployment in wider health and social care settings. The regulations have now been made and therefore, the 12-week grace period has begun. Please see below for some important dates:
  • 6 January – Regulations made. Start of the 12-week grace period.
  • 3 February – 8 weeks before regulations are enforced (and the period required between the first and second vaccination dose).
  • 1 April – Regulations enforced. All staff in scope must be fully vaccinated or have secured a medical exemption.
Guidance will be published in the coming weeks detailing the scope of the policy. In addition to publishing the guidance, DHSC will be updating the Q&A and producing digital assets and explainers for stakeholders and providers to use as they wish. If there is anything additional you need to properly communicate the policy to your audiences, please let me know and we will do our best to accommodate.

This is separate from Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment in CQC-regulated care homes, which is already in place. As per the announcement made on 9 November, the regulations for the wider health and social care settings amend the existing care home regulations. Therefore, from 6 January:
  • An unvaccinated new starter can be deployed in a care home 21 days after receiving one dose of an authorised COVID-19 vaccine as long as that dose was received less than 10 weeks ago
  • Clinical trial participants can evidence their participation in order to be exempt from the requirement

From 1 April:
  • Self-exemption for staff vaccinated overseas will end and from 1 April, staff vaccinated overseas will need to provide evidence that they have been vaccinated in line with the schedule in the regulations or may need to receive a top-up vaccine dose, as per UKHSA advice. 
More detail of these amendments will be laid out in additional guidance, to be published shortly.
Having spent the last few months working with care home providers to implement mandatory vaccination, Royds Withy King has put together an excellent legal guide with valuable lessons to help care providers in the wider sector who will be embarking on the process.
Did you attend recent webinars on the ADASS/ LGA Home Care Cost Tool?
  • The Home Care Cost of Care Tool has been developed in collaboration with LGA and ADASS and is designed as support for councils and providers to understand the costs of delivering home care locally
  • It can be used as an annual budgeting tool to provide commissioners with insight into what impacts the cost of providing home care
  • Elements of the cost modelling can translate to Care Homes
  • Currently in excel format it will shortly be launched on the LGA website and will be free for providers to download and use
  • Further details can be found in the attached presentation.

We are supportive of this tool:
  • It provides excellent detail for providers to understand their business costs
  • It provides an evidence base to discuss the cost of care with commissioners and inform local politicians.
Once the Tool is released we will share the link and would like to work with a handful of local home care providers to test it out and feedback to ARCC.
Looking ahead to what we hope will be better days in 2022, Citation has provided a useful briefing on changes to bank holiday arrangements for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
To mark the Jubilee, bank holidays in the UK will be slightly different than normal this year, with the Spring Bank Holiday moving to Thursday 2 June and one extra bank holiday day available on Friday 3 June.
But not all employees have an automatic right to this extra bank holiday – it all depends on what’s in their contract. It’s important you know whether that’s the case for your employees so you can properly prepare for this potential four-day weekend. 
Did you know that a recent survey of England care homes on diabetes knowledge found (based on >2,000 responses):
  • Two-thirds of care homes have no policy on screening for diabetes 
  • Nearly two-thirds of homes did not have a designated member of staff with responsibility for diabetes management  
  • More than 1 in 3 care homes admitted that they do not have a written policy for managing hypoglycaemia
  • Approximately half of all care homes admitted to not being aware of the National Diabetes UK Care Home Diabetes Guidance
  • About one-third of care homes admitted that they do not have access to local diabetes education and training courses
  • Only a third of homes were able to confirm that they received an annual review report for each of their residents with diabetes 
  • Only about half of care homes kept documented evidence of the latest HbA1c estimation from the GP 
  • Less than half of all care homes kept documented evidence of the latest test of kidney function carried out by the GP
You will probably already know that CQC is re-prioritising efforts in light of current pressures.
On 21 December 2021 they shared an update on our adult social care regulatory priorities. All inspection priorities are being kept under review, to respond to the Omicron variant and pressures faced by adult social care providers and their teams.
CQC is currently focusing on:
  • An ambition to complete 1000 infection prevention and control (IPC) inspections in adult social care over the winter period, and respond rapidly to requests to set up new Designated Settings
  • And from January, begin a programme of activity to rate adult social care services that are registered and not yet rated and to inspect providers currently rated as Requires Improvement, to identify where improvement has taken place and re-rate where possible. Supporting the creation of additional capacity in the system.
CQC states that the priority will always remain to keep people safe, and ensure that their approach remains appropriate and proportionate.
Earlier in December, CQC announced that it will finally begin to inspect care homes rated ‘Requires Improvement’ in a bid to free up capacity in the sector. Many of these homes were being overlooked with CQC’s move to a risk-based approached to inspection rather than timetabled inspections of the past. Whilst maybe welcome news it is important that homes take this opportunity to showcase improvements and challenge CQC should the resulting draft report not be reflective of the service being provided.
And last but by no means least, a reminder that OACP is refreshing its Board of Directors. Find out more here. The closing date for nominations is 5 pm Friday 14 January.
You need to be an OACP Member to stand.
Oxfordshire provider networks
Fortnightly
  • OACP Home Care network: Monday 1-2 via Zoom. Next meeting: 17 January
  • OACP Learning Disability network: Tuesday 10-11 on Teams. Next meeting: 18 January
  • OACP-OCA Care Home network: Wednesday 2-3 via Zoom. Next meeting: 26 January.
Monthly
  • OACP Day centre network: 2nd Friday in the month via Zoom. Next meeting: 14 January.
Webinar & Podcast city
Skills for Care is looking to to organise some short virtual events with Job Centre Plus and the National Careers Service and are looking for some volunteers.
2 types of events to help with recruitment into the care sector open across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 
  1. Sessions for Job Centre Plus (JCP) Work Coaches – these will be information sessions and myth busting about working in the adult social care sector. The idea of these sessions is to give the JCP Work Coaches as much info as possible about working in the sector so that they can positively promote this to job seekers and then refer the right type of people to employers.
  2. Sessions for job seekers – these sessions will tell individuals about working in the sector and any employers who speak at them can also signpost to specific vacancies so it’s a good opportunity to advertise.

The request is could you speak for 10 minutes about working in your part of the sector (care home, home care, supported living or PA) on any of the following dates:

Sessions for Work Coaches:
  • 17 January 3-3.30pm
  • 20 January 2-2.30pm

Sessions for job seekers:
  • 17 February – 11-12
  • 6 April – 11-12
  • 9 June – 11-12
  • 8tSeptember – 11-12
  • 10 November – 11-12
  • 19 January (2023) – 11-12
  • 13 March (2023) – 11-12
 
Menopause at work - what you need to know | Royds Withy King
  • Tuesday 18 January 2022
  • 10am
  • Zoom webinar
  • Book here
Are you aged between 38-55 or know someone who is? If so, this webinar is for you!
In this session, Lauren Chiren, Royds Withy King will discuss:
  • Why being menopause supportive is business savvy
  • The core facts, ages, stages and definitions of menopause
  • The legal, demographic and business case for menopause as a workplace conversation

There will be a presentation, followed by an engagement section and Q&A. You are welcome to share your experiences with fellow HR professionals in a safe and confidential environment ('Chatham House' rules apply).
Hear how you can claim Workforce Development funding (WDF) to contribute towards the cost of vocational learning such as social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules.
  • Wednesday 19 January 2022
  • 14:30 - 16:00
  • Online event - via Zoom
  • Book here
  • Registrations will close 90 minutes before the scheduled start of the event
The session is aimed at managers in care services with responsibility for training and development.
In the session, we will tell you about which qualifications can be funded through WDF this year, the timescales involved, and how to set up or update your Adult Social Care Workforce data set account (ASC-WDS).
We will also give you details of how to:
  • Join a local or national partnership
  • Claim funding directly from Skills for Care
Public Health England's free Online Physical Activity in Clinical Care Training for registered healthcare professionals (Nurses, OTs, Physios)
  • Tuesday 25 January 2022, 1-2 pm
or

More than 500 people have already attended across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
This training is delivered by a PHE Physical Activity Clinical Champion. CPD certificates are provided after the session.
You'll learn:
  • The importance and benefits of physical activity
  • Current CMO guidelines (updated in 2019)
  • How to provide brief advice during consultations
Plus hear from your local Active Partnerships about local physical activity opportunities.
  • I feel better informed to advise patients and colleagues - better self-care too! I will try to avoid sitting still working – GP 
  • I will be able to talk about physical activity more confidently and in-depth. I feel more aware of guidelines and support in the community – Nurse
  • My approach to patients will improve, I'll try to listen more – Physiotherapist 

If you have any questions or would like more support around physical activity in your role/ team please get in touch with your local Active Partnership lead:
Kirsty Heath
Get Berkshire Active
Chris Gregory
LEAP
Natalie Davis
Active Oxfordshire
You Matter Social Care wellbeing event - Menopause
The Menopause is a natural part of ageing that usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age, as a woman's oestrogen levels decline. In the UK, the average age for a woman to reach the menopause is 51.
Studies have shown that menopause symptoms can also have a significant impact on attendance and performance at work. Did you know that:
  • Approximately 13 million women in the U.K are either peri- or post-menopausal
  • Symptoms can last up to 15 years
  • Over 60% of women experience symptoms resulting in behaviour changes
  • 1 in 4 women will experience severe debilitating symptoms
  • Almost half of menopausal women say they feel depressed
  • A third of women say they suffer with anxiety
 
Esther McNeile Jones, Locality Lead and Clinical Supervisor for You Matter, will lead a wellbeing session for all social care staff, focusing on how to spot signs, managing symptoms and offer advice on how best to cope during this significant change in life.
Why not join the conversation to help reduce the stigma around menopause, learn more about the symptoms, hear from others and share your experiences in an open and safe online space.
The regulation of social care: Improving the treatment of workers through regulatory law’.
This is the new revised date for this event. If you signed up for the original date in December you do not need to sign up again.
The speaker will be Professor Lydia Hayes, Head of Kent Law School at the University of Kent.
The session will be chaired by Professor Mary Daly, Governing Body Fellow, Green Templeton College and Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford.
Professor Hayes will present new research, undertaken during the pandemic, showing that care safety and job quality in care settings are inseparable. The findings point to failures in the regulation of care provision. Job quality indicators, highly relevant to the objective of care safety, were being ignored or marginalised by providers and inspectors.
Professor Hayes will make the case that existing regulatory law provides the social care sector with a framework of sector-specific employment standards. Better understanding of the potential of regulatory law could help organisations that represent either employers or workers to improve terms and conditions of work as an inseparable element of the quality of care.
The event will be held via Zoom on:
  • Wednesday 26 January
  • 18:00 to 19:30
  • If you would like to attend this event, please complete this registration form
If you have trouble accessing the registration form, or have any other queries please email yoland.johnson@gtc.ox.ac.uk
Skills for Care will be delivering some Values Based Recruitment and Conversations that Count training for Oxfordshire providers this year. Each course will be delivered in 2 half-day sessions, spaced apart to make it easier for your workforce to commit the time. All courses are free.
 
Values-Based Interviewing, for anyone involved in recruitment screening
To complete the training, delegates must attend two sessions
  • Course 1: 26 January 10.00 – 12.30 and 3 February 1.30 – 4.00
  • Course 2: 2 February 13.30 – 16.00 and 10 February 10.00 - 12.30
                         
Conversations that Count, for managers/supervisors (split into 2 sessions)
To complete the training, delegates must attend two sessions
  • Course 1: 17 February 13.30 – 16.00 and 3 March 10.00 -12.30
  • Course 2: 2 March 13.30 – 16.00 and 10 March 10.00 – 12.30
 
To book, please email evie.bennett@oxfordshire.gov.uk. There are lots of spaces available.
Once your place is confirmed you will be sent the relevant joining instructions and information. 
Regulars
Proud to Care Oxfordshire
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.
Your free guide to recruitment and retention in care
As England introduces new national lockdown restrictions, and the government is reportedly drawing up plans for carers to be banned from working in more than one home, there has never been a more important time to attract and retain your brilliant people.
With that in mind, the care experts of OACP partner, Citation, have created a free guide on recruitment and retention, specifically for care providers.
This guide includes things to consider when recruiting the right people for your business, and methods and tips for engaging your employees to keep them happy and working for you.

Your OACP member benefit
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.
They can also help with fire and electrical safety, Care Policies & Procedures, Care Mock Inspections, and CQC Pro – an application to demonstrate you’re meeting CQC requirements.
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.
Resources
Testing guidance
This very useful page brings together all testing guidance for adult social care, including non-regulated services.
Bookmark it.
DSPT support for Berks, Bucks and Oxon
Link and instructions on how to book: https://oacp.org.uk/events/. See also June webinars above.

If you are not sure which is the right webinar for you, please contact the DSPT team at dspt@oacp.org.uk. This is our dedicated team delivering the Better Security, Better Care roll-out across the Thames Valley.

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.

And Train your staff to be Cyber Aware
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.
Trusted Assessor services

The Oxfordshire Trusted Assessor service is now closed.
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.
BCA, MKB Care and OACP working together for you.
Care Association Alliance | our big family
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.
Consistent, quality information
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.

Reminder
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.

Receiving this newsletter for the first time?
We are adding new colleagues all the time.
Please let us know if there are other colleagues you would like this mailing sent to.

OACP
OACP Member offers | OACP works with the following suppliers to bring you market insight, quality products and expert advice. Contact them today - click on the logo...
Help yourself to help us
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.