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Social Care Providers are playing a critical role in protecting and caring for the most at-risk citizens in our communities. These are challenging times and the leadership of social care in Wales really appreciates everything you are doing to keep people safe.
This document should be read in conjunction with the most recent advice from Public Health Wales (PHW) and Welsh Government.
The aim of this briefing is to keep providers informed of the latest updates, provide advice and respond to general enquiries.
Topic | Detail | Link | |
ADSS Cymru | |||
ADSS Cymru Coronavirus Support for Commissioned Providers | ADSS Cymru has updated its guidance for commissioned providers in line with changes in the guidance from Welsh Government. It has been co-produced with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), Social Care Wales (SCW), the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and the Welsh Government and is for Local Authority commissioners. It is designed to summarise pressures on social care Providers in Wales arising from COVID-19 and to put forward ways in which commissioners can alleviate these pressures. | https://www.adss.cymru/en/blog/post/covid19-commissioners
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Health and Care Research Wales | |||
PRINCIPLE study – Evaluating potential treatments for COVID-19 in older people | Health and Care Research Wales is supporting the set-up of a Wales wide Urgent Public Health Platform study within primary care called the PRINCIPLE study run by Oxford University. The PRINCIPLE trial aims to find treatments for COVID-19 for older people. The study wants to find medicines that can help people with COVID-19 symptoms get better quickly and stop them needing to go to hospital.
The study team are looking for care homes to help promote the study by displaying a poster (included in Bulletin) to help make staff and residents aware of the study.
| If you would like to be involved, further information can be found at https://www.phctrials.ox.ac.uk/principle-trial
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Public Health Wales | |||
Public Health Wales Latest Advice
| PHW has advised that whilst non-essential shops in England are reopening, in Wales they will remain closed. English arrangements allowing a support bubble with another household, and the compulsory wearing of face coverings on public transport do not apply in Wales. Wales does recommend the wearing of a 3-layer face covering where social distancing cannot be maintained such as public transport. | The full statement is available here: https://covid19phwstatement.nhs.wales/
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Ulster University / Social Care Council | |||
Workforce survey | Researchers from Ulster University are looking for frontline social workers, social care workers and nurses in Wales to take part in a study about the quality of health and social care workers’ working life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings will be published as part of a study that looks at the challenges social care and health professionals across the UK faced while working during a pandemic and how they coped with those challenges. | Twitter video explaining the study: https://twitter.com/ni_scc/status/1267385221126803456?s=12
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Social Care Wales | |||
WeCare Wales jobs portal
| Social care employers: we want to help address the staff shortages you might be facing right now. To help you find the right people to fill your vacancies and support your business, we’ve created a jobs portal that will list current social care jobs in Wales.
Post your job vacancies on Twitter and include the following details:
We're also asking for responses to our survey to understand people's attitudes towards the social care and early years and childcare sectors |
To complete the survey: https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=158982007929
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Welsh Government | |||
All-Wales Workforce Risk Assessment Tool | NHS and social care workers check if you are at higher risk of more serious symptoms if you come into contact with COVID-19. | ||
Written Statement: Special payment for the social care workforce | Written Statement by the First Minister to confirm that in recognition of that contribution, Welsh Government announced last month a special, one-off payment of £500 for all care home and domiciliary care workers. It will be also be extended to all ancillary staff working in residential homes that have played an active role in supporting the provision of care. | https://gov.wales/written-statement-special-payment-social-care-workforce | |
Guidance - Testing process for care homes: COVID-19 | How care home residents and staff are tested for coronavirus. | ||
Guidance - How to test care home staff for COVID-19 | Care homes must follow this guidance to test staff for COVID-19. | ||
Guidance - Apply for a coronavirus test (public and critical workers) | Read how you can get tested to find out if you have coronavirus if you are a member of the public, or a critical worker. | ||
Guidance - Contact tracing: if you have tested positive | Explains how the contact tracing system works if you have tested positive for coronavirus. | https://gov.wales/contact-tracing-if-you-have-tested-positive | |
Guidance - Contact tracing: if you are a confirmed contact | Explains how the contact tracing system works if you are a confirmed contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. | https://gov.wales/contact-tracing-if-you-are-confirmed-contact | |
Guidance - Contact tracing: stay alert to scams | Explains how to identify genuine communications from our contact tracing team. | ||
Toolkit for critical worker employers | A toolkit and assets for critical worker employers to communicate the Test, Trace, Protect strategy. | ||
Care homes benefiting from digital devices rollout | Care homes across Wales are benefiting from digital devices being delivered to them as part of a Welsh Government scheme to help residents keep in touch with friends and family, and to assist with video medical consultations | https://gov.wales/care-homes-benefiting-digital-devices-rollout | |
Guidance - Chief Medical Officer's advice on face masks | CMO advice that Welsh Government should support the public’s right to choose to wear face coverings in most settings. | https://gov.wales/chief-medical-officers-advice-on-face-masks | |
Guidance - Medical masks: frequently asked questions | Who and when you should wear a medical mask in a clinical or care setting. | ||
Written Statement: use of medical masks in health and social care | Vaughan Gething MS, Minister for Health and Social Services makes a written statement about the use of medical masks. | https://gov.wales/written-statement-use-medical-masks-health-and-social-care | |
Guidance - How to make a 3-layer face covering | Step by step guide to making a non-medical, 3 layer face covering at home. | ||
Guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable from coronavirus (COVID-19) | Information for shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable from COVID-19. | ||
Guidance - Help for the vulnerable from local authorities and voluntary groups | People who are extremely vulnerable will receive a letter from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales. | ||
Virtual Medical Assessments – Prospective Adopters | During the COVID-19 crisis there have been issues with the ability for prospective adopters to have access to a GP examination as the NHS have refocussed priorities to deal with the emergency situation. To combat this problem the National Adoption Service alongside Public Health Wales have designed a process on behalf of the adoption agencies in Wales which enables medical assessments to continue during the current crisis.
From 15th June 2020 a virtual medical assessment process will be introduced in Wales for prospective adopters which can be used where face to face examination and consultation by a GP cannot take place. This process is time limited and will be in place during the crisis whilst face to face examinations continue to be difficult to access. This temporary solution will enable prospective adopters to move on to adoption panel and approval decision, thus allowing the adoption process to progress and children to continue to be placed with their permanent families.
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Written Statement: Ensuring safe visits to care homes | Joint Written Statement by Vaughan Gething MS, Minister for Health and Social Services and Julie Morgan MS, Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services announcing the easing of restrictions to allow visitors to care homes for outdoor visits. | https://gov.wales/written-statement-ensuring-safe-visits-care-homes | |
Guidance - Visits to care homes and coronavirus: guidance for service providers | How care homes can accommodate safe outdoor visits from family and friends. | https://gov.wales/visits-care-homes-and-coronavirus-guidance-service-providers | |
Guidance - Regional coronavirus testing facilities | Wales’ testing capacity is supported by an extensive network of facilities across the country. | ||
Testing weekly update 16 June 2020: coronavirus | Provides information about the number of people tested for coronavirus in Wales up to 14 June 2020 | https://gov.wales/testing-weekly-update-16-june-2020-coronavirus | |
Testing for coronavirus: weekly updates | Includes the number and results of coronavirus tests, who was tested and where they were tested. | ||
Check your eligibility for business and financial support | To ensure social care providers do not miss out on business and financial support opportunities, we are encouraging them to check their eligibility on the Business Wales website.
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