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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 |
Coronavirus Bulletin – new arrangements | Please note that the current weekly Coronavirus (Covid-19): Update for Care Providers will now be published on a fortnightly basis during this recovery phase of the pandemic. The frequency of bulletins will continue to be reviewed. The next issue will be published on: Wednesday 19th August. |
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Care Inspectorate Wales | ||
CIW Recovery Plan | CIW have shared their recovery plans which took effect from 31st July 2020. This includes a move from ‘check-in’ calls to monitoring calls with an increased focus on how you are ensuring the safety and well-being of people. These calls will be less frequent, except where concerns are raised, to enable all services to be monitored. Providers will be asked to share their biannual quality of care review report. CIW will contact Providers with further details. Full details of the recovery plan can be found on the CIW website. |
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Welsh Government | ||
Social Care Workers £500 Payment | The one-off payment is being made to recognise and reward social care staff who provide care for our most vulnerable citizens in their own homes. Staff cannot adhere to social distancing measures and are at increased risk due to the numbers of people they are assisting. The scheme applies to staff within registered care homes and domiciliary care services and includes Personal Assistants (PAs). |
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Written Statement: Further Funding for Adult Social Care Providers | A further £22.7m is being made available to help adult social care providers meet the additional costs associated with the pandemic. |
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Written Statement: New letter from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales to those who are shielding and easy read version of the letter | Letters from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales to those who are shielding are currently being issued. This letter informs the individuals who have been shielding no longer need to do so after 16th August. The letter also provides details of the support that will continue to be available to this group. An easy read version of the letter has also been published. |
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Guidance on protecting people most likely to get very poorly from coronavirus (shielding): easy read guide | Easy read guide to shielding people defined as extremely vulnerable. | |
Test, trace, protect: toolkit for critical worker employers | A toolkit and assets for critical worker employers to communicate the Test, Trace, Protect strategy. |
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Guidance on testing and contact tracing in childcare settings | Information on the antigen (swab) and antibody (blood) tests and contact tracing. |
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Care Homes Action Plan | This letter sets out the actions we are taking to support the care home sector. |
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Protecting Staff and Children from coronavirus in childcare | How to get your childcare service ready to allow more children to attend and protect them and your staff from coronavirus | |
Guidance for dealing with people who are unwilling or unable to self-isolate or follow coronavirus lockdown instructions | How local authorities and providers of supported and temporary accommodation and hostels must deal with people who are unwilling or unable to self-isolate or follow coronavirus lockdown instructions. |
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Joint statement by the UK Chief Medical Officers – extension of self-isolation period | Joint statement from the 4 UK Chief Medical Officers on changes to the self isolation period. |
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21-day reviews of measures to manage COVID-19 (24 July review): equality impact assessment | An assessment of how our measures to manage COVID-19 affect equality of opportunity (24 July review). |
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Family and friends at the heart of new coronavirus regulations | New rules came into force on Monday 03 August to make it easier for family and friends to meet outdoors. |
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Written Statement: Review of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2020 | The First Minister announces the 6th review of the regulations.
The links include the written statement, the updated regulations and what changes have been made.
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Closure of businesses and premises: coronavirus (COVID 19) | List of non-essential businesses and premises that must remain closed.
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COVID-19 rehabilitation service modelling | A modelling resource to help services plan rehabilitation services following the coronavirus pandemic. |
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Guidance on leaving your home and seeing other people: coronavirus | Guidance on regulation 8 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020. |
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Guidance on extended households: coronavirus | Rules that will apply to being in an extended household and advice about how to form one. |
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Coronavirus regulations: frequently asked questions | What you and businesses can and cannot do during the outbreak and what happens if you break these new laws. |
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Coronavirus (COVID-19) related statistics and research | Latest data and analysis on the effect of coronavirus on society in Wales. |
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Guidance for working in other people’s homes | This document is to help employers, employees, and the self-employed and others (such as volunteers) working in or at people's homes (where the work does not require close physical contact) to understand how to work safely, taking measures to minimise the risk of exposure to COVID-19. |
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Workplace and Premises: Taking all reasonable measures to minimise the risk of exposure to coronavirus in workplaces and premises open to the public | Guidance under regulation 13 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No.2) (Wales) Regulations 2020. |
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Childcare Offer for Wales to reopen | Wales’ Childcare Offer providing 30 hours of early education and care to the working parents of 3 and 4-year olds across Wales is set to reopen, Deputy Minister for Health and Social Care Julie Morgan has announced today. |
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Further Funding for Adult Social Care Providers’ Additional Covid-19 Costs
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| Link to additional funding for Support for adult social care guidance
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Samaritans helpline for health and social care workers in Wales | Launch of a Welsh Government funded, Samaritans helpline which is dedicated both to NHS workers and the social care workforce in Wales.
The bespoke listening service offers emotional support on the phone every day between 7.00am and 11.00pm and is accessible to everyone from the frontline to the back-office, supporting them when they need it most. A Welsh language line will be available for those seeking support in Welsh between 7pm and 11pm. | For more useful resources visit:
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COVID-19 workforce risk assessment tool: social care and health care posters | Posters to explain the risk assessment tool for workplaces are now available. Please print and display to explain the tool to all staff. | |
COVID-19 workforce risk assessment tool | This tool helps you consider your personal risk factors for COVID-19 and suggests how to stay safe. It is designed for health and social care staff but can be used in any workplace. |
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Written Statement: Timely Presentation of COVID-19 Disease | The Minister for Health and Social Services announces a series of measures to ensure that people who have a COVID-19 infection are coming forward at the right time to get the medical support they need. |
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Advice on coronavirus from the Technical Advisory Cell | Information to help ministers respond in the best interests of the Welsh population to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Coronavirus: New measures on when to seek medical advice | The Health Minister Vaughan Gething is today (Tuesday 4th August) urging anyone isolating at home with COVID-19 to contact 111 or their GP if their symptoms don’t improve after seven days or if they experience breathlessness or vomiting, or if fatigue stops them doing their normal daily activities. |
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Self-isolation: stay at home guidance for households with possible coronavirus | How to self-isolate and look after yourself at home if there is possible coronavirus infection in your household. |
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Test, trace, protect: process summary | What you need to do to help contact tracing control the spread of coronavirus. | |
Test, trace, protect: multilingual information about coronavirus | Multilingual information about coronavirus symptoms, testing and contact tracing. | |
Health Stabilisation Budget | Welsh Ministers have today announced a new £800m stabilisation package to help the Welsh NHS to continue to respond to and recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. | |
Social Care Wales | ||
Time for you
| ‘Time for you’ is new peer support network for managers of domiciliary care services in Wales. The network will meet for one hour, every fortnight on Zoom for 12 weeks. Meet ups will have an independent host and you’ll join smaller ‘breakout’ groups to share experiences, discuss any issues you may want advice on, and share tips and ideas. These groups will remain the same over the 12 weeks. This network is aimed at those with a level 4 or 5 qualification running a domiciliary care service or who have responsibility for managing staff or teams. Get in touch if you’re not sure if this is for you. The first meet up will be on Thursday, 3 September at 11.30am.
To book your place or to find out more, email rebecca.cicero@socialcare.wales or hannah.williams@socialcare.wales |
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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:
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Health and Care Research Wales | ||
Setting priorities for social care research in Wales | Health and Care Research Wales and Social Care Wales recently asked people for their comments and questions about social care and support for older people in Wales. They summarised these into questions that could be answered by research. They would now like your help in deciding which questions are the most important. Please take part in the survey if you are:
You don’t need to know about research – they just want to hear your opinion based on your own experience. It will take about 10 minutes to complete and is open from 29 July to 24 August 2020. What you think matters! |
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Workshop – How can we best provide sustainable care and support to help older people live happier and more fulfilling lives? | Health and Care Research Wales and Social Care Wales is running a workshop on afternoon of 16th / morning of 17th September to finalise their Top 10 list of research questions. Social care practitioners can register an interest by emailing healthandcareresearch@wales.nhs.uk by 20 August 2020. |
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UK Government | ||
Tell Us Once – reporting of Covid-19 deaths | The UK Government’s Tell Us Once service allows citizens to share details of the deceased with relevant government departments, removing the need to engage with each one separately and supply numerous copies of the death certificate. Tell Us Once can notify a number of organisations including adult social services. | |