Tag: Health and Social Care

National helpline established for those without family or community support

A new national helpline is being set up to provide essential assistance to those who don’t have a network of support but who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19.

The service – which opens today (Tuesday) – will offer help to those who do not have family or existing community support and cannot get online and who are over 70, disabled, require the support of mental health services, are pregnant or receive a flu jab for health reasons.

This service is in addition to localised support already available for people who have received letters advising them to shield themselves. However, any of those in the shielding category who are not yet receiving assistance, who do not have family and cannot get online can access support via this new helpline.

Anyone not in these categories but still looking for support should visit readyscotland.org

The helpline – 0800 111 4000 – will initially operate during core working hours of 9am to 5pm while plans are developed and implemented to extend it to operate for a longer period each day.

Callers will be automatically connected to their local authority who will support them to access the service they need, such as:

  • essential food and medication
  • links to local social work services for vulnerable children or adults
  • emotional support
  • contact with local volunteer groups.

Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government Aileen Campbell said: “The coronavirus outbreak is impacting all our lives but for some it is more than a disruption – it is a severe restriction on their ability to access food, medicine or other essential services.

“This national helpline will allow our most vulnerable, who do not have a network support group, to access the essential help they need.”

COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: “These are unprecedented times. Coronavirus is having an impact on all our daily lives – but for many without any support network it is even worse.

“This national helpline and support arrangements will provide reassurance to our most vulnerable citizens. It is there to support those who are at home with nobody around to help them and with no other way of seeking local assistance. It will allow them to immediately access the essential help they need.

“The approach to getting this helpline up and running has been multi-agency and I would like to thank not only Council Chief Executives and their staff for the work they have done, but our other partners, volunteers and the third sector too. I hope it gives many residents, struggling alone in very challenging situations, the reassurance they deserve at this incredibly difficult time.”

Immediate pay rise for social care staff

Social care staff are to receive an immediate 3.3% pay increase backdated from 1 April.

The move, agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA, means staff will not need to wait for the pay to be backdated at a point later in the year following negotiations, as has happened in previous years.

It is part of a package of measures to support social care workers in recognition of the vital role they are playing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Social care support workers providing direct adult support will have their pay increased to at least the Real Living Wage rate of £9.30 an hour for all hours worked, including sleep-overs and hours worked by personal assistants.

The Scottish Government will also provide funding to third sector and independent providers specifically to ensure staff receive sick pay if they are off work ill or because they are self-isolating.

In addition, the agreed funding increase to these providers will give them the financial flexibility to increase wages across their organisations, and not just to frontline staff.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Scotland’s dedicated social care workers are on the frontline of our national pandemic response. Their work is always hugely valued, and never more so than now.

“The measures we are announcing in partnership with COSLA today will ensure all people providing adult social care receive the Real Living Wage for every hour worked with immediate effect, rather than having to wait until later in the year.

“As well as providing an uplift in pay for all social care workers, this package ensures social care providers have both flexibility to increase wages across their organisations and the necessary funding for sick pay if their employees are off ill or are self-isolating.”

Cllr Stuart Currie, COSLA spokesperson for Health and Social Care, said: “Local Government recognise and value the vital contribution of Scotland’s social care workforce and have made great efforts together to achieve an agreement that confirms the living wage as well as supporting providers where they are experiencing additional cost associated with COVID-19.

“Today’s announcement reflects the key worker status of social care support staff and confirms support for those off sick or self-isolating.”

Andy Kerr, Chair of the Fair Work in Social Care Group, said: “This announcement will provide social care providers the confidence, in these very challenging times, to ensure a very welcome and deserved pay uplift for social care staff working in Scotland.

As well as recognising the importance of their work, today’s announcement also gives reassurance that financial support is available for those who are sick or self-isolating during this unprecedented situation. It also reflects the work we are doing as part of the overall reform of adult social care to build a framework for fair work across the sector.”

A joint letter from Ms Freeman and Cllr Currie was issued to all local authorities setting out details of the package.

This follows their previous letter to local authorities and integrated joint boards to confirm the key worker status of social care workers, and their access to childcare and support where required.

In Awe of our Carers

SCOTS are being urged to show their appreciation for the work of Scotland’s vast army of social care workers who are continuing to provide vital services to older and vulnerable people during the Coronavirus crisis.

Leading housing and care provider Blackwood is promoting a campaign to shine a light on the important front-line role care employees are playing – and to encourage businesses and individuals to look at ways they can show their gratitude.

Across Scotland, it is estimated that up to 150,000 staff work in the social care sector, providing care to people in care homes and retirement developments as well as care-at-home services.

Blackwood Chief Executive Fanchea Kelly said:  “Many older and vulnerable people could require hospital care without the help of our wonderful care staff. This vital support is happening in our communities in an almost invisible way during the COVID-19 crisis.

“In Blackwood we believe it is essential to recognise this important work publicly. We’d like to let care staff know that they are appreciated, keeping morale high at a time where many people are going way beyond their normal duties. If you can do anything to show your support, we’d love to hear from you.

“The first thing you can do is to join our campaign #ImInAwe so please tweet, retweet and share far and wide to get behind our carers and show how much they are valued.

“And I want to say thanks to members of Edinburgh Sports Club for volunteering to help drive our carers to their shifts as public transport services decrease.

“If you or your business can help in your own way, get in touch, we would love to hear from you to put a collective show of support across Scotland. But most importantly use ‘#ImInAwe‘ to show you care.”

Blackwood aims to help people live their life to the full, by providing services which support individuals to live independently. It specialises in technology and design innovation to support the role of its housing and care staff across Scotland.

For more information, please visit: https://www.blackwoodgroup.org.uk 

New guidelines to protect frontline staff

New guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) has been published for health and social care workers responding to coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland.

The guidance, which has been agreed by the four UK Chief Medical Officers and Chief Nursing Officers, follows an urgent review of the existing guidance against the latest evidence and WHO advice, on the safest way to protect health and social care staff.

The new guidance includes:

  • what type of PPE to use in secondary, primary and community care settings, and when to wear it
  • when clinicians need to wear a higher level of protective equipment, and in which settings
  • detailed advice around risk assessing use of PPE in a range of different clinical scenarios, including community settings, such as care homes and caring for individuals in their own homes

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Protecting staff working on the frontline is an absolute priority and I want to thank each and every one of them for their hard work and commitment in this incredibly challenging situation.

“I want our staff to feel as safe as possible and this updated guidance provides clarity so that health and social care staff caring for patients feel confident in which PPE they need to wear in different situations and settings.”

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said: “The updates to the guidance reflect the fact that COVID-19 is now widespread in the community, so health and social care workers are more likely to see patients with the virus, some of whom will not have symptoms yet.

“We have introduced new measures to improve the distribution of PPE, including a single point of contact for all health boards to manage local PPE supply and distribution, and an email address for NHS staff to contact if they do not have what they need. This is covid-19-health-PPE@gov.scot. It will be monitored continuously and allow us to act to resolve any specific supply issues more quickly.

“A helpline has also been set up for registered social care providers having problems accessing PPE, with extra staff to prepare orders for social care, additional delivery drivers, longer delivery hours and use of more external delivery companies to increase capacity. Work continues to source further PPE and ensure there is an appropriate supply for all our workforce.”

The Scottish Government also outlined details of the improved process to report COVID-19 deaths that began yesterday.

As part of this new system, 40 deaths, which would not yet have been reported under the old system – because next of kin had not been informed – have been included and allocated to the last three days as appropriate.

The data below shows the running total of the number of deaths reported, under the old and new systems, of those confirmed to have died from Coronavirus across the last few days. There are now 126 deaths confirmed using the new system:

Tuesday 31 March – 69 (previously 60)

Wednesday 1 April – 97 (76)

Thursday 2 April – 126 (86).

 

Edinburgh’s Netli offers free services to all health & social care providers

As a direct response to the increasing pressures that the COVID-19 outbreak is putting on the health and social care system Netli, the leading service and solution provider for the care sector, is to make its services free of charge to support health and social care providers nationwide. 

Stephen Wilson, CEO and Co-Founder of Netli said: “These are incredibly difficult times for everyone right now and in order to continue providing critical care services for the most vulnerable in our society, care providers across the UK must quickly adapt to changing priorities and implement methods of remote working for administration and managerial staff – this is where we can help.”

Workforce powered by Netli is an online platform that enables remote working for office staff and management as well as speeding up the recruitment process of new staff at a time where this is needed most.

The platform has been proven to reduce time to recruit new care staff from 8 weeks down to 8 days, permitting new staff to get started much more quickly. It also reduces the administration time of recruitment by up to 90%, allowing admin personnel to be re-deployed to other business-critical areas.

Wilson continues: “Our software has been specifically designed to make recruitment in care across the UK more efficient and easier for both the recruiter and the applicant.

As well as supporting those already working in the sector, our dedicated online jobs board CareJob.co , powered by Workforce will facilitate the transition of more people into a career in care in a time where it is needed most.”

CareJob.co is a single source, centralised hub for careers in care across the country. The free offering will allow recruiters to post one job advert at a time and vacancies created in Workforce will then be automatically posted to CareJob.co and Google Jobs.

Workforce and CareJob can be set up within minutes, allowing entire teams to have 24/7 remote access to a complete recruitment and HR system and they have been.

Wilson concludes: “Our experienced team are working tirelessly to support the UK’s response to COVID-19 through the accelerated deployment of online strategies. Our services will not only speed up processes and make them more efficient, but they will also support the safety of staff and service users during times where social distancing strategies are being enforced.”

For more information about Netli visit www.netli.co  

Drive to free up hospital beds

Councils have been asked to increase support for care at home, nursing homes and care homes to reduce delayed discharges and free up hospital beds.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has confirmed to COSLA that, subject to expenditure being aligned to local plans, the Scottish Government will meet additional costs to increase support and staff capacity in social care.

The move aims to help the care system adapt to increased pressure placed on it by COVID -19, with many people requiring continued support for daily living, even if they have not contracted the virus.

Ms Freeman said: “We have placed the NHS on an emergency footing and we also need to increase the capacity in our social care sector.

“Extensive work is already underway by health and social care partnerships to free up hospital beds and care for older people, and others in need of support, in care homes and in our communities.

“We have now informed councils that any additional expenditure to maximise the care available to our communities, aligned to work that is already underway, will be covered by the Scottish Government.”

COSLA’s Health and Social Care spokesperson Councillor Stuart Currie said: “COVID-19 represents an unprecedented challenge to anyone working in caring professions in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government and local government have shared leadership to ensure the entire system is working together to optimise the impact on the wellbeing of our communities.  Work is underway locally to do this and today’s announcement gives welcome assurance to the sector about the steps which will be taken to maximise the care available to our communities.

“COSLA guidance will be issued shortly to support commissioners to work collaboratively to protect the resilience of the social care sector and ensure they remain operationally and financially viable.”

Who are the Key Workers?

What is a key worker? The UK Government gives the following information:

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:

Health and social care

This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

This includes childcare, support and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

Key public services

This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response, or delivering essential public services, such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery, as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security

This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

If workers think they fall within the critical categories above, they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.

If your school is closed, then please contact your local authority, who will seek to redirect you to a local school in your area that your child, or children, can attend.

We are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings for continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of our country. It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this disease.

ARMED at the double

An innovative wearable technology solution has been awarded at two prestigious ceremonies for its ability to support independent living for older people.

Proudly developed in Scotland, ARMED, part of HAS Technology, scooped the two awards thanks to its proven success rate and quick expansion, leading to the creation of new jobs while also demonstrating how artificial intelligence can revolutionise preventative care. 

The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards commend and celebrate the local and global impacts achieved through research and development partnerships between businesses, universities and research institutes.

Advanced Risk Modelling for Early Detection (ARMED) won the ‘Innovation of the Year’ award thanks to its impactful and long-lasting collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University and Scotland’s Digital and Health Institute (DHI).

The unique ceremony showcases the talent and expertise that leads to sustainable and inclusive economic growth and job creation. 

ARMED has also been recognised at the Digital Health and Care Awards (DHCA), a ceremony that celebrates excellence and innovation in Scotland’s quickly expanding health and social care sector.

At the event, ARMED was awarded the Independent Living Award, an accolade that celebrates the teams who are changing culture through innovative technology that enables individuals to live more independently.  

This award was led through the partnership with the Scottish Government’s Innovation Centre; the Digital Health & Care Institute (DHI).

With the telecare model not progressing over the past 10 years, the DHCA praised ARMED for developing a solution that doesn’t react but instead demonstrates that it’s possible to deliver preventative services using low-cost technology to support independent living. 

Brian Brown, Director of ARMED at HAS Technology Group, said: “We‘re thrilled to be the recipients of not just one, but two awards. These award wins are testament to the dedication and belief of our team, who are passionate about digital transformation.

“We are always striving to improve the lives of those receiving care and support, increase independence and prevent health issues before they arise, alongside offering the sector a cost efficient and transformative solution.”  

The accolades are set to continue for ARMED as they are also finalists in the Tomorrow’s Care Awards. People are encouraged to vote for ARMED’s wearable technology by visiting the website and clicking ‘Tomorrow’s Care Awards’.

ARMED was developed with support from Edinburgh Napier University and Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI), as well as being in the 1% of companies chosen to be a Microsoft partner.

A number of Scottish Councils have been instrumental with initially testing the technology and it was recently piloted with Scotland’s Loreburn Housing Association. The project saw successful results in just six months, with zero falls reported with the case study group. 

To find out more about ARMED technology, visit https://www.armedprevention.co.uk/

Drumbrae Care Home ‘must make ugent improvements’

A care home for older people in Edinburgh must make urgent improvements in the care experienced by residents, inspectors have said.

The Care Inspectorate has served a formal Improvement Notice on council-run Drumbrae Care Home following an inspection which raised serious concerns. Continue reading Drumbrae Care Home ‘must make ugent improvements’