The Carer Digital - Issue #54

T H E P U B L I C AT I O N F O R N U R S I N G A N D R E S I D E N T I A L C A R E H O M E S

W W W. T H E C A R E R U K . C O M

The Carer Digital

THECARERUK

Issue 54

THECARERUK

“Forced Vaccination” Could Add to Recruitment & Retention Woes

Care staff are nearly twice as likely to turn down a Covid jab if they’ve been threatened or not given vaccination advice by their employer, according to a UNISON survey.

Concerns have been raised since the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched a five-week consultation in April, on whether amendments should be made to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 which means that older adult care home providers could only deploy those staff who have received the Covid-19 vaccination.

The union says the findings of its survey based on responses from over 4,000 workers across the UK, including those in care homes and out in the community –

suggest forcing care employees to get the jab is likely to backfire.

Widespread take-up of the Covid vaccine across the care workforce is essential, says UNISON. But it believes government plans for mandatory vaccinations would be counterproductive and could trigger employee shortages in a sector already in crisis.

The union has detailed its concerns in evidence* to a Department for Health and Social Care consultation on proposals to make the jab compulsory for workers in care homes for the elderly in England.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3...)

PAGE 2 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT Welcome to the latest edition of The Carer Digital!

I am delighted to see news of a new award to recognise “Exceptional Practice In Adult Social Care”.

Long overdue! Launching the award the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Professor Deborah Study, said: “The pandemic has shone a light on the exemplary efforts of our dedicated social care workforce, and I am committed to ensuring we recognise the selfless hard work they do day in and day out. The social care workforce more than ever continues to demonstrate Editor unwavering compassion, professionalism and dedication. Not only during the pandemic but every year.”

See the story on page 7. And please get nominating!

Regular readers will be aware we have, in a very small way, been recognising the hard work and dedication those working in the sector undertake each day and every day with our “Unsung Hero Award”. (See page 11) A gesture on our part where we invite care managers to nominate members of staff in any department was gone that extra mile sometimes without acknowledgement and deserving of recognition.

We have been humbled and overwhelmed responses we have received, and ours is a simple “send us a couple of paragraphs” nominating a member of staff for a no glitz and no glamour prize, as a gesture of appreciation going that extra mile.

It is vitally important to recognise the hard work and dedication those working in the sector provide. Adult social care workers have been taken for granted by successive governments, recognition, and I hope that this newly announced award is just the beginning of an initiative to support adult social care funding, training, and renumeration.

Some of the heartwarming stories we have recently received have involved people crossing over into adult social care having been furloughed from other industries due to the pandemic.

They have included Nicky Stevens of Eurovision Song contest winner “Brotherhood of Man” who has been working with the companionship team for care group Colten Care. Of course, Nicky won’t remember that I met her about 20 years ago at a function here in Bournemouth, delightfully entertaining lady and I was thrilled to see her put her unique talent to good use in the social care sector. Nicky is now returning to her career as a singer.

And Opera star James Kryshak, who has been working as a care assistant in the Tunbridge Wells Care Centre (TWCC) for the past year, and will be up his uniform and return to the stage. (See page 9) Delighted, but not in the least bit surprised to see that, hard work though it was,

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Peter Adams

WEBSITE: www.thecareruk.com EDITOR Peter Adams SALES EXECUTIVES they found the whole experience uplifting and rewarding.

I would also draw your attention to our front-page story, one that could become one of the most significant legal challenges in modern times.

I think the results of the survey undertaken by UNISON speak volumes. Any

Sylvia Mawson David Bartlett Guy Stephenson

attempt to force vaccinations on employees will backfire. It will as the survey says

TYPESETTING & DESIGN

cause problems attracting staff to join the sector and retaining existing staff.

Matthew Noades

We have had many leading experts on employment and human rights providing thought led articles in recent months, and it is still my understanding that the Human

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Rights Act, the UK law which protects our human rights, has not changed. This cov-

Shelly Roche

ers our right to make choices about our lives, as well as the right to be free from discrimination for any reason, including disability or vaccination status.

To date care providers have worked very hard consulting with their staff to listen to their concerns about the vaccine and this has had a very positive effect with a good take up, it would be a real shame to see “autocratic” government intervention when what is needed is the exact opposite, consultation, reassurance, and encouragement.

Once again we have called on some of the industry’s “leading lights” for insight, advice guidance and best practice, and are always delighted to print the many “uplifting stories” we receive from care homes and staff around the country so please do keep them coming! I can always be contacted at editor@thecareruk.com

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THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 3

“Forced Vaccination” Could Add to Recruitment & Retention Woes (...CONTINUED FROM FRONT COVER) The majority (88%) of care workers taking part in UNISON’s survey had received a jab, compared with just over one in ten (12%) who had not.

The most common response from non-vaccinated staff was they had simply turned down the offer (65%). This was followed by other reasons (24%) such as pregnancy, the desire to do more research or because they were still waiting for an appointment.

The remaining staff who hadn’t been vaccinated said they had a medical exemption (7%), had been off work sick (7%) or that appointment times offered did not fit their shift patterns (6%).

Overall, more than two thirds (68%) of those who took part in the survey said their employer had provided support and advice about the Covid vaccine.

But nearly a third had received no helpful advice from their employer (33%), with 18% of these staff saying employers had imposed a deadline for them to get the jab.

A further 9% said their boss threatened to sack them if they turned down the offer of a vaccination, and (3%) were told their pay would be cut.

UNISON said the government should take alternative steps to compulsory vaccination to boost take-up such as a major advertising drive, asking vaccinated staff to reassure hesitant colleagues, and targeting resources at areas where uptake is low.

UNISON senior national officer for social care Gavin Edwards said:

“Vaccinations are the way out of this pandemic. But forcing staff to get jabbed won’t work, nor will threats and bullying.

“The government should concentrate on persuasion and reassurance.

The care sector is facing huge staff shortages. This already dire situation will only get worse if employees feel coerced and unsupported.”

Earlier this year The Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, said making the vaccine mandatory for care workers could put people off from joining the sector.

Chairman Mike Padgham said it is vital care workers get vaccinated but it should be voluntary, adding: “I think rather than force it through legislation, the Government has more work to do in terms of persuading everyone, not just care workers, about how important it is that the whole country has the vaccine so that we are all protected.

“There are already 120,000 vacancies in the care sector, we don’t need to put anything else in the way that might prevent people from joining our rewarding profession.”

Responding to the DHSC consultation Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says: “Care England has been active in its support of the Government in the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine and has continued to support its members to do everything they can to persuade residents and staff to have the vaccine with great success. The sector remains united in its support for the vaccine. The shared focus, regardless of the outcome of the consultation, must be to continue to promote the vaccine amongst all the social care sector and the NHS, not just care homes for older adults.”

He added: “If regulation is the vehicle of choice, it is essential for the issues associated with mandating the vaccine for adult social care staff to be comprehensively addressed prior to its introduction. There must be central guidance, funding and leadership in helping to support adult social care providers in implementing the regulation. In other words, there must appropriate infrastructure support.”

Nathan Donaldson, employment lawyer at Keystone Law said: “Care Home providers must balance the safety of their residents and staff, whilst also respecting employees’ freedom of choice. Moreover, in absence of further statutory intervention by the government, it will be difficult to make vaccinations legally compulsory.

It is hoped that the outcome of the government consultation will result in legislation or guidance that will support providers to make long-term and pragmatic decisions to ensure the welfare of its employees, residents and their families.

He added: It is also assumed that any steps to make vaccinations mandatory will have associated safeguards, through requiring informing and consultation obligations upon the employer regarding the efficacy of vaccines and the health and safety benefits as well as affording for legitimate exceptions to apply where vaccination would not be appropriate. Exceptions may include those relating to employees who have a disability, pre-existing medical condition or are of an age or religious/philosophical belief that would afford them reasonable grounds to refuse vaccination.”

Vida Healthcare Dons Denim For Dementia Vida Healthcare is raising money for Alzheimer’s Society with the help of local school, Rossett Acre Primary.

The dementia care specialist has teamed up with local school children to raise awareness of dementia and lift the spirits of residents and staff at Vida Healthcare’s two homes; Vida Grange and Vida Hall with blue flowers crocheted by the pupils at Rossett Acre.

Hosted on 21 May 2021 to tie in with Denim for Dementia, families, residents and staff will be required to provide a small donation in order to wear the flowers to support Alzheimer’s Society.

Denim for Dementia is a day founded by Alzheimer’s Society which was established to raise awareness of dementia, the care available for people living with dementia, and raise money for the charity by people wearing denim for the day.

Ashleigh Christie, Early Years Leader at Rossett Acre Primary School, who came up with the idea of crocheting flowers, commented: “Contributing to the happiness of people in our local community, and teaching the children about health conditions like dementia is a really important part of school life at Rossett Acre.

“We really enjoy partnering with Vida Healthcare to give the children exciting projects to work on, and it’s

really meaningful to know that the hard work of our pupils has such a positive impact, particularly after such a challenging year with the pandemic.”

Vida Healthcare and Rossett Acre have previously partnered in 2020 when the school handmade Christmas cards containing good wishes and personalised messages for the residents.

James Rycroft, Managing Director at Vida Healthcare, who’s coordinated the initiative, added: “It’s really important to us that we raise awareness of dementia amongst our local community and young people. Initiatives like this are a great opportunity to not only provide much needed funds to fantastic charities like Alzheimer’s UK, but also bring a smile to the faces of our staff, residents and their families. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the flowers that are created by the school children, and the effect they have on our residents. We’re coordinating numerous CSR activities throughout the year and it’ll be fantastic to continue working on these initiatives and seeing the positive impact they have both at home and further afield.”

Vida Healthcare is coordinating numerous CSR activities with local schools throughout the year, including a project with Saltergate Primary School to coincide with Loneliness Week in June and Christmas carols, which it hopes will be held in person this year as Covid restrictions continue to lift.

PAGE 4 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

How We Can Overcome Loneliness

By Philippa Shirtcliffe, Head of Care Quality, QCS (www.qcs.co.uk)

For many, Monday, 17th, May was a day that will live long in the memory. It was the day that a sizeable chunk of the Coronavirus restrictions that have kept us shackled to our homes and away from loved ones, were lifted. As people hugged on doorsteps and let their emotions go and relatives, it was a was day that felt as profound as it was poignant.

But it wasn’t just porches and doorsteps that were full, the skies above them were also heaving as families, ignoring the government’s advice not to fly to amber-listed countries, jetted off to the sun. At home, British holiday resorts were full, while indoor gyms, cinemas also made a welcome return. While the spectre of Covid19 still hangs over us – the Indian variant may yet force us into retreat - there was a palpable sense of relief at being able to reunite and connect with loved ones once again.

But, while the airwaves, column inches and television screens painted a picture of the UK taking a huge step forward in returning to normal, some still remain – and will remain - haunted by the pain and agony of separation.

LONELINESS CAN AFFECT ANYONE But, even when we finally begin to emerge from the ashes of the Covid crisis, it’s likely that there will be millions of people in the UK suffering from loneliness. Some of them young, others middle-aged, but many of them elderly.

To some extent, the government has recognised that the issue of loneliness needs to be addressed. A year ago, it relaunched its ‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’ campaign, and the government reports to have ploughed in £34 million to charities dedicated to tackling loneliness since the pandemic began.

But we all need to do more. In terms of older service users in residential care or those receiving home care, it is vital that we, as a society, not only recognise the signs of loneliness, but show a willingness to understand it and tackle it at its roots. Why? Well research published on the website of the Marmalade Trust, a charity which supports isolated and lonely people nationally, shows that if loneliness is not addressed “it’s as harmful to our heath as smoking 15 cigarettes a day”. It also points out to the fact that loneliness can also lead to “an increased risk of heart disease, stroke depression and poor sleep”. Finally, in the worst case scenario, the Marmalade Trust says that “people how suffer from chronic loneliness are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease” than those who feel deeply anchored to their local communities.

WHAT SHOULD CARE WORKERS BEST APPROACH LONELINESS So what can frontline managers and professional care staff do to ensure that service users don’t feel isolated? Quality Compliance Systems, the leading provider of content, guidance and standards for the social care sector, has produced several policies and procedures, including documents and a life story template, which supports recreational activities. In terms of being able to offer best practice, QCS has forged a rich and collaborative partnership with NAPA.

From a best practice perspective, I think it’s really important to remember the fact that service users in residential settings can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. Many care homes and domiciliary care of course realise this and know that the best way to support service users is to get to know them and their relatives and become part of their lives. Establishing that personal connection with them means that it is much more likely that service users might be more willing confide in them, which then gives care staff an opportunity to address the issue.

For service users who rely on domiciliary care, coping with isolation is much more challenging, especially when they live alone. The lockdown has had a particularly devastating effect on volunteer services, which have been severely restricted during the crisis. Some have run out of funding, or the frontline volunteers, who these organisations heavily rely on, have had to shield, meaning many services have been suspended. This has sometimes meant that daily visits by domiciliary care workers are the only occasions when service users have face-to-face contact.

CHALLENGES FACED IN HOME CARE Home care professionals, therefore, who are often only allocated 15 minute slots to provide care to a service user, need to be able to instantly establish a good rapport with their clients. They need to ask the right questions to encourage a person, who is feeling lonely, to open up, and, most crucially, they need to feed the information back to their Registered Manager. The Registered Manager can then reach out to family members, or if the person has no family, to volunteering organisations and to charities to support that person in finding new social connections.

With loneliness being so complex and nuanced – there are many different types – providing the right support is often challenging. Sometimes service users just need care staff to listen and engage with them on a more personal level. At other times, they may benefit from another service users or a staff member engaging in a favourite past time with them. It could be a quiz, a crossword, a game of bingo, or simply spending time reminiscing with them. Video conferencing platforms have proved worth during the lockdown too and a recent study conducted by the University of West London’s Geller Institute of Ageing even shows that Zooming during the lockdown could help to prevent dementia in the future. With loneliness being found to have a negative impact on cognitive ability, strengthening existing bonds or forging new friendships via video conferencing platforms may have multiple benefits.

But if chronic loneliness is to be overcome, we need to get to grips with it - not just as individuals - but as a society. During the pandemic some of us did just that. Some became re-acquainted with the people living on our street, they reached out, helped the vulnerable and began to rebuild the social ties that had been snuffed out by the excessive demands of commuter living. With the UK marking Loneliness Awareness Month in around four weeks’ time, what better way to collectively make a difference than to copy that example?

Quality Compliance Systems (QCS) is a leading provider of content, guidance and standards for the social care sector. If you wish to find out more about QCS , why not contact QCS’s compliance advisors on 0333-405-3333 or email sales@qcs.co.uk?

75-Year-Old Graduate Says “You’re Never too Old to Learn” Gaynor Powell, a tenant at Brunelcare’s Woodland Court retirement village, recently graduated after completing a six-year degree at the Open University.

Gaynor, 75, received her BSc (Hons) Open degree in August 2020 after enrolling on a part-time course in 2014. She studied four modules of Social Science and two modules of Health and Social Care, and wants to show others that they are never too old to learn.

Gaynor said: “My grandson was 18 and going to university, and I was so envious because I thought ‘I could do this’. So I started enquiring around other universities. The Open University said

they could do a degree for me because I could complete it over a longer time, and it would be geared to when I had the time available.

So that’s what I did.”

Gaynor studied for 20 hours a week, learning a range of topics including geography, history, economics, law, politics, psychology, sociology and anthropology. She had to adapt to a new way of learning when technology was introduced to the course, and began attending virtual lessons.

Gaynor said: “I have grandchildren at university thankfully, so I’d ask ‘What does this mean, ‘send it over the wire’?’ My second grandson showed me how to send it digitally and it just blew my mind because I’m so used to the classroom.

There were little hands to go up, little crosses for when you weren’t speaking and the tutor would say ‘turn your video on,’ or 'turn your voice on,’ it was such a learning curve. But now I look back and I think ‘Wow. I did that.’ And I was in my 70s, so you’re never too old to learn something new.”

Gaynor said that attending university brought her closer to her grandchildren, as they shared their experiences of studying. With the course helping her understand the pressure of deadlines, Gaynor and her grandchildren regularly spoke about their academic work and sup-

ported each other through their courses.

After six years of learning, Gaynor completed her degree in August 2020 and looks forward to having a graduation ceremony, which was put on hold due to the pandemic.

Gaynor said: “I studied four hours a day, 20 hours a week, for six years. And it was just wonderful. The course challenged my view of life and made me question my views. As you get older you already have certain ideas, but the course opened my mind to new things and it was just great."

Alongside studying for her degree, Gaynor has worked as an invigilator for five years at Bristol University. She moved into Brunelcare’s Woodland Court retirement village six years ago, and enjoys organising activities for the other tenants. Prior to the pandemic she ran a number of activities, including book clubs and quizzes, which she hopes to restart in the future.

When asked if she had any advice, Gaynor said: “Do what you enjoy, because if you enjoy it then you’ll stick to it. I didn’t realise I enjoyed learning until I started. I wanted to go to university because my grandson did, but once I started I thought ‘Wow, what have I missed all my life? I missed this education?’ It’s never too late to learn new skills and new things.”

‘Outstanding’ Care Provider Named As One of UK’s Top Health Employers Specialist care provider, PJ Care, has been named as one of the top 10 health and social care companies to work for in the UK. The neurological care specialists are ranked 9th in the category in the ‘Best Companies’ awards which recognise organisations whose staff are engaged. By asking staff to respond to survey questions, it measures how much pride they have in what they are doing and how much faith they have in those around them.

More than 50% of PJ Care’s staff took part in the survey. They rated PJ Care on factors such as how much they enjoy working for the company, how beneficial training is and the sense of family in their team.

88% of staff felt proud to work for PJ Care and 83% said they love working at the company’s two neurological care centres in Milton Keynes and its Eagle Wood care centre in Peterborough. 85% believe they can make a valuable contribution to PJ Care’s success and 78% felt a strong sense of family in their team. 74% said they were happy with the balance between their work and home life.

The results give the company an ‘outstanding’ rating and two-stars – one higher than in 2019. They also mean the company ranks 36th in the best companies to work for in the south east, and 56th in the east of England.

“We are delighted with the results, especially considering our staff were asked to complete the survey in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic,” said PJ Care’s chairman, Neil Russell. “This was the most challenging period the care sector has ever faced and to know that our staff felt so strongly about working for PJ

Care, about the difference they make to our residents and about the atmosphere we’ve created here, makes me incredibly proud.

“We are always looking at ways we can provide support, career and personal development for our staff. The pandemic increased that focus because of the pressures it put on all of us so we introduced a monthly survey to make sure we were aware of how everyone was feeling and what they needed.

“As a result, we made a number of changes such as providing beds for staff working nights to sleep in on their breaks, additional lighting for the car park, creating areas staff could safely remove their masks for a break and providing tablets for staff to do on-line training.”

PJ Care provides specialist neurological care for adults with degenerative conditions such as dementia, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They also offer rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injuries. The three centres employ almost 600 staff.

Over the last 12 months, the company has seen its apprenticeship scheme develop to include more than 12% of all staff, at every level of the business, and rewards for staff include quarterly ‘champion’ awards, recognition for charity work and a loyalty reward for those who’ve been employed for more than two years.

PJ Care has just become an accredited Living Wage employer which means every member of staff, no matter what their age or employment status, will receive at least £9.50 per hour.

“The care and support of our staff is something we take very seriously,” added Neil. “We are thrilled that shows through.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 5

Government Sets Out New Action To Tackle B1.617.2 Variant The government has outlined new decisive actions to halt the spread of the B1.617.2 variant of concern first identified in India.

Following extensive COVID-19 surveillance which has rapidly detected cases of the B1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, additional surge testing, tracing and isolation support measures are being deployed at pace across Bedford, Hounslow, Burnley, Leicester, Kirklees and North Tyneside.

The government continues to work in close partnership with local authorities to ensure the right action is taken at the right time, and to boost uptake of the approved vaccines for those eligible in these areas.

We are also providing support to the Scottish Government, who are adopting similar action to control the spread of variants in Glasgow and Moray.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are determined to do all we can to ensure this new variant doesn’t put our recovery at risk.

“So we’ve acted fast, to guard the gains that we’ve made together.

We are putting in place more testing – more testing sites and on vaccinations, we are making more vaccinations available to everyone who’s eligible.

“To everyone in these areas, please exercise caution, get a test, and as soon as you’re eligible, get the jab.”

The latest data on the B1.617.2 variant shows the number of cases across the UK has risen to 2,967 cases. Most cases remain predominantly in the North West of England, with some in London.

While there is no evidence to show this variant has a greater impact on severity of disease or evades the vaccine, the speed of growth is of note and the government is working quickly to ensure the appropriate action is being taken.

Targeted activity will take place across Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester, and North Tyneside to continue to drive vaccine uptake amongst eligible cohorts to protect the most vulnerable.

This includes, based on an assessment of local need, exploring opportunities to: • Expand existing assets e.g. extending opening hours and capacity of existing sites • Develop new capacity to support outreach directly to communities e.g. vaccine buses, additional pop-up sites • Utilise innovative methods of delivery where appropriate e.g. drive-thru and roving delivery to workplaces via St John’s Ambulances • Co-locate vaccination sites with surge testing to support increased convenience for local residents • Increase local and targeted communications working with community leaders to target underserved communities Working in partnership with local authorities across Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester, and North Tyneside, strengthened testing operations are helping to control the spread of COVID-19 variants.

Testing will be ramped up to meet local needs, which will include additional Mobile Testing Units, door-to-door testing and extra PCR test kits for community testing sites.

Older People 'Badly Let Down' by CQC The Relatives & Residents Association (R&RA) has accused the CQC of “retreating to the side-lines” during the COVID-19 pandemic and has expressed continued disappointment with the role the Care Quality Commission has taken during the pandemic.

In a letter to the regulator, R&RA’s chair outlines how older people needing care have been badly let down by the CQC. As a human rights crisis unfolded in care, with isolation infringing people’s rights to liberty, family life and wellbeing, the CQC retreated to the side-lines the letter states, adding that their lack of action has left people in care at risk. Their (CQC) lack of voice and leadership has left the sector vulnerable, and failure to adapt to the changing world has left care users and their families bereft.

The letter calls on the CQC to take urgent action to remedy these failings and earn the trust and respect of those they exists to represent.

The letter is accompanied by a summary of insights and evidence from the R&RA Helpline of

the barriers older people and their families continue to face around contact and the impact of isolation.

The letter also states that the CQC should be: • Restarting routine inspections of care services: prioritising settings with a history of serious breaches of the Regulations, those without a manager, with a high staff turnover, and those not inspected for three or more years.

• Proactively monitoring compliance with Government guidance on visiting (in and out of care settings): insisting that care homes make their visiting policy explicit and report current practice to you as the regulator. The information should be publically available and assessed in CQC’s inspections and reports.

• Representing the rights of all individuals using care services: particularly for access to healthcare – CQC should be calling for and encouraging reestablishment of face-to-face contact with health practitioners, social workers and other professionals.

• Using its leadership voice in speaking up and raising awareness of the care sector’s needs: particularly for adequate sick pay for care workers.

The CQC said it will be releasing a full response to the R&RA in the coming days.

WE NOW SUPPLY A WIDE RANGE OF FURNITURE

In Bolton, a 100-strong Surge Rapid Response Team continues to support the local authority with door-to-door testing and encouraging residents to take a PCR test. The response team are now engaged with Bedford providing some planning and coordination support to help them develop their testing strategy.

Additional measures will be implemented in areas where clusters of cases have been detected to stop further spread. These include: • enhanced testing and contact tracing, including enhanced community and surge testing in areas defined by the local authorities and regional teams; • genome sequencing of positive cases; • increased community engagement, including ensuring that messages are accessible in languages that are used by communities; • working closely with communities and community leaders to ensure that individuals are supported to test and self-isolate; and • encouraging uptake for the age and risk groups currently prioritised for vaccination.

NHS Test and Trace works with each local authority to tailor our response to their local community to best meet local needs. Some of these areas are using genomic sequencing and enhanced contract tracing without more targeted testing, depending on the outcome of the public health assessment.

The government and its scientific experts are monitoring the evolving situation and rates of variants closely, and will not hesitate to take additional action as necessary.

PAGE 6 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

Thoughts on the Future of Social Care and Fundraising

By Richard Franklin, CEO Kisharon (ww.kisharon.org.uk) When it comes to social care, there has been little alternative for the voluntary sector but to step up to meet the challenges left by a succession of Ministers who have all failed to address generational social care funding inequalities. Every stakeholder of all political persuasions recognises the urgent need for a deliverable plan to revitalise the effectiveness of an over-stretched social care system whose fractures have been mercilessly exposed by unprecedented infection and mortality rates brought about by the COVID pandemic.

Clap for Carers had since given way to nurse resignations over paltry pay settlements and with political progress on social care reform still grindingly slow - the onus and burden remains with us.

With the Treasury and Health & Social Care Select Committees as well as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Adult Social Care drawing the battle lines, the country is inching towards arguably one of the biggest peacetime political decisions in decades - namely, whether to nationalise Adult Social Care or opt (in part or whole) towards an insurance or pension-based scheme.

A parsimonious nine words in the Queen’s Speech confirmed that the wait must continue for the Prime Minister’s “oven-ready” social care plan originally promised more than two years ago. The more jaundiced of us may be forgiven for looking elsewhere at more immediate solutions to all too well-documented ongoing social care funding crisis.

Necessity being the mother of invention, the sector had to find more inventive ways to meet funding shortfalls. The latest of these to have met with particular success is match-funding or incentive-based giving. As a concept it has been with us since for as long as there has been fundraising. Simply put, I will match your £10 gift pound for pound - and the cause receives £20 (instead of the £10 it would receive if you give alone).

With the advent and acceptance of online donation platforms - think JustGiving and Virgin Giving - and then Crowd funders, like KickStarter and GoFundMe, it was not long before Not for Profit providers caught up, supporting large scale infrastructure projects with rapid success. The iRaiser payment platform claimed to raise in just 48 hours, €14m of €30m raised to restore Notre Dame with 200,000 donations from 192 countries.

While Social Care does not evoke the same immediate response as the televised destruction of 800 years of French history - the visceral strength of feeling should not in any way be underestimated from families of nearly 2m ordinary Brits who the Royal Commission first recognised were being denied a fair funding settlement almost 25 years ago.

During now 15 months of lockdown, with Events, Challenges and Gala Dinners on hold, crowd funding platforms have come into their own. In the learning disability arena, both Ambitious for Autism and, separately, our organisation, Kisharon, have used these platforms to great effect to at least part cover the Covid- Void and ongoing inequities of existing funding arrangements. Our experience so far is that matched-giving campaigns bring out the best of community, creating engagement and support for the most positive of reasons.

While, as with all fundraising, careful preparation, clear messaging, and strong relationship management is required - these are all fundamental to effective fundraising. Think of it this way – to meet the £300m net expenditure reduction in real terms within social care - if 1.5m people currently work in social care each raised £100 from family and friends, could sector leaders rise to the challenge of finding High Net Worth Individuals, Corporates, Trusts or any other organisation to match them? Insofar as our reality remains that we cannot fully rely on the State - we have to be prepared to continue to rely on ourselves.

Kisharon is a learning disabilities charity and social care provider. The charity supports people of all ages with a range of learning disabilities and plays an essential role - from nursery to school, college, and independent living support as well as employment and vocational opportunities.

To find out more visit: https://www.kisharon.org.uk

New Football Book Raises Funds For Social Care Eleven of Britain’s best football writers have teamed up to create a special book that raises money for the national social care charity Community Integrated Care.

The Away Leg: XI Football Stories is an incredible collection of matchday anecdotes from leading journalists, recalling their most memorable football away days. At a time when fans are longing to return stadiums to watch the sport that they love, it is a must read for fans of the greatest game.

All profits from sales will be donated to Community Integrated Care – one of Britain’s biggest and most successful social care charities. It supports almost 4000 people across England and Scotland who have learning disabilities, autism, mental health concerns, dementia, and complex care needs.

Proceeds from the book will be used to create new opportunities for people who access the charity’s services to achieve their dreams and grow in independence, as well as to support people entering social care in crisis. It is on sale now from Amazon.co.uk and all good book retailers.

The publication has been developed by acclaimed authors Steve Menary and James Montague, with Pitch Publishing.

Its eleven chapters take readers to the heart of the action with remarkable tales from across the globe. From derbies in Brazil, Georgia, and Israel to the momentous rise of the Iceland men’s national team, readers are taken on a compelling international journey. With tales of an international match in North Korea only days after a nuclear warhead explosion and the most political game in World Cup history – Iran vs USA at France ’98, it is packed with drama from both on and off the pitch.

John Hughes, Director of Partnerships and Communities at Community Integrated Care says, “We were honoured when Steve and James offered to support Community Integrated Care by creating this book. They wanted to show their support for social care and to recognise the hard work of our colleagues throughout the pandemic. Fundraising support like this is vital to our charity being able to create life-changing opportunities for the people we support.

To see a team of such talented writers, give their time our charity is humbling. We hope that readers not only enjoy reading their fantastic tales, but also take great pride in knowing that they have helped to change lives with their purchase.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 7

9 Words For Care-NCF Hails “Incredible” Response The National Care Forum (NCF) has shared responses and case studies from its most recent campaign, #9wordsforcare.

The campaign was launched after The Queen’s Speech this month afforded social care reform just nine words. This was the only acknowledgement given to a sector that impacts the lives of millions of people, and has been on the promise end of reform from multiple governments for the best part of thirty years.

Deeply frustrated by the minimal focus on social care in the Queen’s Speech, the National Care Forum – the leading association for not for profit care providers – made a call out to those who work in the sector, receive care and support, relatives and friends, providers, commissioners, local government, parliamentarians and the wider public to find out what they would have said about how important social care was – if they only had 9 words.

The response to the #9wordsforcare call out was incredible. In 48hours, we received over 400 submissions and hundreds more who engaged and commented on the ambition for social care. The responses were angry, inspiring, emotional, sardonic, symbolic and most of all they showed that people cared.

‘We do not want proposals, we need action.’

‘Social care needs total reform not sticking plaster solutions.’

‘Ambitious reform backed by appropriate investment is needed now.’

‘Sustainable and equal access to care and support services.’

‘9 words said a lot, neglecting #care must stop.’

The responses showed that social care reform really matters to people, and that they want it to really matter to those in power. Stories from across our membership demonstrate how much of a lifeline families and individuals rely on social care.

Rifleman Stephen Vause enlisted into the Army in 2006. Stephen was deployed in 2007, initially to Kuwait, then Iraq. He was 19 when he was wounded by a mortar bomb blast. Stephen’s disability means that he is supported in a residential care home, has limited mobility and speech, but he is adept at using a tablet to communicate or simply a swift thumbs up or down.

Alan Heath’s wife of 57 years, Judi, slipped a note into his suitcase the night before he moved into his care home, asking staff to look after “the love of her life” and care for him like she would. Judi said: “We’ve been together since 1959 – it’s a long time and suddenly I wasn’t caring for him… that was really hard. So the night before he went to the care home I wrote a letter and put it in his suitcase. It was for the staff, and I hoped they’d find it when putting away Alan’s clothes. I wrote that Alan was the love of my life, and to please look after him. And they have.”

Emma Castleton whose 17-year-old son has severe to profound learning disabilities explains: “My son will never live or work independently, and he’s got two more years left in school. And what comes after that is very unclear. There is no pathways, the budgets for support are not enough, and it’s very confusing. We’re trying to work through what I understand is huge amounts of paperwork, which all has to be completed for when he turns 18 to find the right environment for him to be. The uncertainty and difficulty in navigating the system is heart breaking”.

Vic Rayner, Chief Executive of the National Care Forum says: “For Stephen, Judi and Emma social care reform is so much more than rhetoric or bureaucracy, it will absolutely change their lives and that of their families. The underlying message is clearly that 9 words was definitely not enough, and seriously undermines the much repeated commitment that this government will ‘fix social care’. If all the government is going to allocate to social care is 9 words – there are literally hundreds and hundreds of alternative 9 words which have made much more impact and given people a sense of hope, purpose and ambition for the future. Social care affects people and in the words of the people responding to our call ‘lack of action has impact on people and lives’.” #9wordsforcare

New Award To Recognise Exceptional Practice In Adult Social Care Workforce The exceptional efforts of the social care workforce will be recognised through a new award launched by the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care.

Professor Deborah Sturdy has outlined her commitment to recognise the outstanding contribution made by social care workers and nurses in England and their enormous range of skills, expertise, and enduring compassion.

The awards will mirror the Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May’s awards for the NHS, and aim to celebrate nurses and care workers in adult social care who go above and beyond their everyday roles to provide excellent care, leadership and inspiration.

Presented as gold and silver awards, they represent an important step towards bringing recognition in line with the NHS workforce and recognise the extraordinary commitment of the adult social care workforce.

Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Professor Deborah Study, said: “The pandemic has shone a light on the exemplary efforts of our

dedicated social care workforce, and I am committed to ensuring we recognise the selfless hard work they do day in and day out.

“The social care workforce more than ever continues to demonstrate unwavering compassion, professionalism and dedication. Not only during the pandemic but every year.

“I am extremely proud to present these awards to colleagues in social care which reflect those for colleagues in the NHS. “These individual awards recognise exceptional practice and care and rightly give recognition, acknowledgement and appreciation that those individuals deserve.”

The awards will be on an application basis and awarded throughout the year.

Nominations will be considered by a panel of NHS and adult social care chief nursing officers and adult social care sector representatives.

The Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care aims to present the first award later this year.

The gold award will recognise outstanding achievements and per-

formance demonstrated by a nurse or social care worker in their sphere of practice. This may be clinical practice, education, research, or leadership. The award recognises the exceptional contribution by an individual with a distinguished career in nursing or social care.

The silver award recognises performance that goes above and beyond the expectations of the everyday role that the nurse or social care worker is expected to perform. Again, this could be demonstrated in education, research, patient and carer experience, leadership, tackling diversity and health inequalities, and could be awarded to either an individual or a team.

The awards will not be limited to registered nurses and will be extended to include all carers across all care settings, not only care homes.

Applications are available as a form which should be supported by two signatories, and are available to fill in via https://consultations.dhsc.gov.uk/Goldaward2021 and https://consultations.dhsc.gov.uk/silveraward2021

PAGE 8 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

Supporting Care Staff Wellbeing

By Richard Latham, CEO, Wellmind Health (www.wellmindhealth.com) The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strains on our wellbeing, with a particularly heavy burden placed on health and care professionals. A recent poll carried out by the NHS Confederation’s Health and Care Women Leaders Network in February and March of this year reveals the extent of the impact on female health and care staff in England.

The results show a significant rise in women working across health and care reporting a negative impact from their work on their mental and physical health as a result of the pandemic. There can be a reluctance to share if people are struggling emotionally, for fear of it damaging careers and due to the stigma still attached to mental health. It’s important to build and maintain open lines of communication, so people feel able to reach out if they are struggling.

Open cultures also help us to work proactively and preventatively, helping people maintain good health and wellbeing in the first place, not just providing interventions if they are suffering. Sharing personal stories can be a powerful way of changing culture, breaking the taboo, and opening that dialogue around mental health.

For some, it can be uncomfortable speaking with managers about these issues, and managers don’t always have right knowledge, skills and confidence to support. Managers can be trained in mental health first aid and awareness, and their needs must be considered too.

Making time to slow down and focus on our personal needs is not

always easy, even at the best of times. Providing flexible working opportunities can help care staff to avoid burnout, be better able to cope with outside caring responsibilities, and to find the space and personal time to exercise and reconnect with themselves.

Physical activity and being amongst nature and green spaces can greatly aid both our physical and mental health, so providing flexibility and encouraging staff to get outside regularly and partake in exercise

are simple but effective ways to help maintain physical and mental wellbeing. Just ten minutes of brisk walking can improve mental alertness, energy and boost our mood.

The benefits of meditation are wide-ranging, from reduced stress, anxiety and fatigue to improved sleep, better emotional wellbeing and increased attention span. Group in-person or online meditation times can be organised, and digital meditation aids can help beginners. Be careful not to overload people with group sessions or make them feel like they have to participate as not everyone is comfortable with such activities. Apps can be particularly useful here, allowing people the freedom and privacy to manage their own mental wellbeing.

The use of apps and digital therapeutics accelerated dramatically when lockdowns commenced and have been extremely valuable in helping to maintain and improve wellbeing. They are available 24/7, can be completed at your own pace, and offer privacy for people. There are many apps on offer to aid physical and mental wellbeing but there are variations in the levels of quality and effectiveness so it’s important to find which ones work best for your team’s needs. Some apps are NHSapproved, which can provide a level of reassurance.

It’s vital that as many effective lines of support as possible are made available to our health and care sector staff, especially with females making up the vast majority of the workforce and often having to contend with significant caring responsibilities outside of work too.

Care Home Partners With Physiotherapist Specialist To Help Reduce Trip Ups WITH the easing of lockdown restrictions, an Edinburgh care home is resuming its physiotherapy-led falls prevention class which looks to prevent falls and support residents' mobility and wellbeing.

Cramond Residence had been holding weekly classes with reduced numbers, led by the home’s lifestyle coordinators, but as of early April they have reinstated the specialist physiotherapists from Balanced to resume their classes as normal.

The classes are available free of charge to all residents and take place weekly. Prior to attending, residents are individually assessed by a physiotherapist and split into groups based on their physical ability.

Lisa Sohn, Lead Lifestyle Coordinator at Cramond Residence, said: “The falls prevention classes have been very popular amongst residents, we have quite a few regulars who attend.

“It’s a great way for residents to socialise while also encouraging mobility and helping to keep them safe. Although classes are not mandatory, we do encourage residents to take part as much as possible to build up and maintain their strength.

“The pre-class assessments mean that residents are split into either seated or standing groups, ensuring everyone gets the most out of

their sessions.

“The aim of the classes is to prevent potential falls and give residents the confidence to move around either independently or semi-independently, based on their needs and abilities.”

The falls prevention programme has been part of the care home’s programme since it opened in 2018, and was temporarily facilitated by lifestyle coordinators during lockdown to minimise risk for residents.

Throughout lockdown, residents have been isolating in nine self-contained small-group living units within the purpose-built care home, to help with infection control.

Lisa added: “It’s great to have Balanced back to take over the classes and provide their specialist support – it’s another step towards ‘normality’ for the residents which is not only fantastic for their physical health, but for their mental wellbeing.

“We’ve recently been able to bring residents back together again in larger groups, following social distancing guidance, which has also helped greatly with socialisation.”

Better Data, Not More Data: How A Study That Develops A Care Home Minimum Data Set Might Help

By Gizdem Akdur (Research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire), on behalf of the DACHA team WHAT IS THE DACHA STUDY AND WHAT IS A MINIMUM DATA SET (MDS)?

The DACHA study (Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes’ Adoption and use) is a partnership between care home researchers from nine UK universities, care home organisations, and the NHS. The study investigates a special assessment tool that can benefit the residents and the carers in care homes. Typically, a minimum data set (MDS) is completed by care home staff and shows a complete overview of care residents’ needs and their care.

MDS is used, for example in North America and New Zealand, to provide a standardised account of the characteristics and needs of residents living in long-term care settings. As part of the DACHA study, we will test a version of a care home MDS in England to see if it is feasible and useful for care of older people.

WHY DOES HAVING ONE WAY TO COLLECT RESIDENT INFORMATION MATTER? Care home staff record a lot of information about residents.

The pandemic has shown the need to be able to use this information both for residents’ care and external services that support and monitor care homes. A minimum data set that is useful to frontline staff, and acceptable to residents and relatives, could standardise how information is collected and shared, and could reduce the need for staff to respond to multiple requests for similar information. Information on patients/residents is not routinely shared between different places. An MDS could become the basis for that, linking care home data with information that is held about residents by GPs, hospitals, and other health and social care services.

WOULD IT MEAN MORE, OR LESS, WORK RECORDING RESIDENT INFORMATION? There is specific resident information that needs to be undoubtedly collected by the care homes (because it is not possible to collect it elsewhere). This information will create a ‘care home minimum data set’. DACHA is also looking at how to link information held on residents by care homes with information held by the Local Authority and NHS services. If this works, it would mean that care home staff would only have to record information on their residents once. A linked system can improve direct resident care and reduce the volume of administrative responsibilities for care home staff.

HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED? Care home staff who work directly with older people can join an online consultation group in June 2021. We know that direct carers have very different experiences and views using digital and paper records. The consultation is to talk about how care home workers use the information on residents to do their work, what information they prioritise, and information about residents they collect but seldom use. Opinions expressed and the discussion will not be linked to participants or the care homes they work for.

It is a great opportunity to influence future planning, and we would value your views. If you take part in the meeting, you will receive high street vouchers to the value of £30, as a thank you. Please get in touch with us at g.akdur@herts.ac.uk if you are interested in joining the discussion.

KEEPING IN TOUCH You can follow us on Twitter at @DACHA_Study. More information on the DACHA project is available at dachastudy.com.

Funding Acknowledgement and Disclaimer DACHA is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Service Research and Delivery programme (HS&DR NIHR127234) and supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East of England.

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 9

60 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine Administered In UK Around 72% of UK adults have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the latest figures published onSunday 23 May show.

Health services across the UK have now administered a total of around 60.6 million vaccines since 8 December, including around 37.9 million people with their first dose (72%) and 22.6 million with both doses (43%), ensuring they have the strongest possible protection against COVID-19 from a second dose.

This comes as new real-world data shows the vaccines are reducing hospitalisations and deaths, saving more than 13,000 lives and preventing 39,100 hospitalisations in England by the 9th May. The government met its target of offering a vaccine to the most vulnerable by 15 April and remains on track to offer a first dose to all adults by the end of July. NHS England are sending texts inviting people to book a vaccination to those aged 32 and 33.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “Shortly after vaccinating over 70% of adults in the UK with a first dose, we have hit yet another incredible milestone with over 60 million doses delivered in total.

“Our trailblazing vaccination programme – the biggest and most successful in NHS history – is another great British success story and a testament to what can be achieved when all four corners of country comes together to defeat this virus.

“Our country has one of the highest uptake rates in the world and I’m delighted that so many have answered our call to arms. If you have not yet come forward, and you are eligible, I urge you to take up the offer – it could save your life and protect your loved ones.”

To ensure people have the strongest possible protection against COVID-19, appointments for second doses have been brought forward from 12 to 8 weeks for the remaining people in the top nine priority

groups who have yet to receive both doses.

The move follows updated advice from the independent experts at the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which has considered the latest available evidence and has recommended reducing the dosing interval to counter the threat of new variants of concern.

Earlier this week, the government announced new decisive actions to halt the spread of the B1.617.2 variant of concern first identified in India.

Targeted activity is taking place to continue to drive vaccine uptake amongst eligible cohorts to protect the most vulnerable.

The government continues to work in close partnership with local authorities to ensure the right action is taken at the right time, and to boost uptake of the approved vaccines for those eligible in these areas.

We are also providing support to the Scottish Government, who are adopting similar action to control the spread of variants in Glasgow and Moray.

The government and its scientific experts are monitoring the evolving situation and rates of variants closely, and will not hesitate to take additional action as necessary.

Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi said: “Today we hit yet another phenomenal achievement, with 60 million jabs in arms and over 4 in 10 people fully vaccinated with two doses.

“I want to pay tribute to the heroic work of NHS workers, volunteers, local authorities and civil servants across the whole country who have worked tirelessly to help make this happen.

“The vaccine is saving thousands of lives and provides invaluable protection from this virus, so when you get the offer please come forward for the jab.”

The vaccine offers high levels of protection against symptomatic disease and even higher levels of protection against severe illness, hospi-

talisation and death from COVID-19. Protection increases with the second dose which is why it’s vital that everyone gets both doses of the vaccine as soon as they are offered to them. Getting the vaccine makes people less likely to get infected and growing evidence shows that it also helps to prevent them from passing the virus on to others.

The latest data from Public Health England’s (PHE’s) real-world study shows the vaccines are already having a significant impact in the UK, reducing hospitalisations and deaths, saving at least 13,000 lives and preventing at least 39,100 hospitalisations in England by the 9th May. For the over 80s, it is estimated that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduce the risk of hospitalisation by 93% from the B.1.1.7 (Kent) variant.

PHE analysis also shows that individuals who receive a single dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have approximately 80% lower risk of death against the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant originating in Kent and a second dose of the vaccine can provide 85-90% protection against symptomatic disease. Protection against death from the PfizerBioNTech vaccine rises from approximately 80% after one dose to 97% after two doses against the Kent variant.

A new study by PHE shows that two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against the B.1.617.2 variant first identified in India.

Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant is similar after two doses compared to the B.1.1.7 (Kent) variant dominant in the UK, and we expect to see even higher levels of effectiveness against hospitalisation and death.

Data published by YouGov shows the UK continues to top the list of nations where people are willing to have a COVID-19 vaccine or have already been vaccinated.

Renowned Tenor Turned Carer Returns To The Stage Opera star James Kryshak, who has been working as a care assistant in the Tunbridge Wells Care Centre (TWCC) for the past year, is getting ready to hang up his uniform and return to the stage.

The internationally renowned tenor from the United States, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, was scheduled to appear in several operas, including Salome and Irrelohe in Europe last spring, when the pandemic struck. As these upcoming performances were postponed indefinitely, all James could do was fly home and ponder his immediate future.

Despite a string of qualifications and several prestigious international awards, James was at a loss for the first time in his career. “It was so

disappointing and worrying,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what to do, because I had only known music up to that point.”

It was James’ partner, a theatre director turned clinical psychologist, who suggested training as a mental health nurse.

Having applied, James found that he also needed to undergo some hours of care – hence his application to TWCC. He started at the home in May, at the height of the first lockdown, after completing his initial training online. He spent nearly a year working full time on Grosvenor, the home’s dementia wing, but has scaled back his caring role very recently as his musical commitments have picked up again.

“I enjoy working with residents and making them comfortable. Every

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day is different as the level of care they need varies so much,” he says.

He has put his singing skills to good use, too, giving concerts for residents and staff.

“Working in care has made me appreciate singing as a job. I have never worked so hard as I have in care, but I love it!”

He also gave great comfort to one of our residents before she died.

“Eileen sang non-stop,” he says. “And I sang with her every day for the last two weeks of her life.”

James has agreed to stay on as ‘bank staff’ and be called upon to help out at the home if necessary, which his colleagues and residents are delighted about.

Home Manager Theresa Steed says: “It has been a real delight to have James on our staff. He is a great favourite with the residents and staff for his kindness, compassion and care for others, as well as his wonderful voice. Whatever James is doing and wherever he is in the future, we hope that he will stay in touch with us here at TWCC!”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 11

Say Hello to the Carer’s Latest Unsung Hero

We here at the CARER are thrilled to announce that Thelma O’Leary, Activities Co-ordinator at Fernhill House Care Home in Worcester is our latest Unsung Hero!

Over the past year and through the difficulties of the pandemic Thelma has gone out of her way to keep the residents busy and entertained, organising a range of activities that target the mind, body and soul.

Thelma’s weekly schedules contain a whole range activities and events that are requested by the residents, however, Thelma spend a great deal of her own time researching activities that the residents didn’t know they would enjoy!

Francesca Brennan. Customer relations manager at Fernhill House Care Home. said: “Thelma’s ability to think “out of the box” is a credit to the home and she has organised lots of activities and events that are

certainly outside of the norm.”

“She bought nerf guns in and set up targets for the residents to shoot, organised a wacky races event in the gardens where staff raced different themed wheelchairs, hosted our own Grand National where staff dressed up as the horses (we also had a unicorn and a dinosaur!) and she has been in regular contact with local schools, churches and musicians to ensure that the residents still feel part of the community.”

“There has been wine tasting, cocktail making, seated yoga, Zumba, drumming and even a beer festival!”

“She has started a “This is your life” project, where she takes the time to really get to know the resident and their history. She involves their loved ones so that she finds out as much detail as possible. She then puts all the information and photos together in a scrap book, which is then presented to the resident.”

Francesca added: “There has been a lot of fun here at Fernhill over the past year and Thelma has ensured that residents have been stimulated and entertained. She has an infectious personality, and nothing is too much trouble.”

Well done Thelma!

We here at The Carer are delighted to award worthy winner Thelma a luxury “celebration” hamper packed full of all those “artful” little extras that make any celebration a truly memorable occasion, containing an absolute smorgasbord of luxury comestibles that are sure to delight the senses and tickle the palate!

UNSUNG HERO HISTORY We started our Unsung Hero award in 2015 to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was at that time a “one-off” prize reward that member of staff going above and beyond their normal duties. A no glitz or glamour small gesture on our part to put a bit of cheer back into the sector.

Little did we know just how popular it would become, and, more importantly, just how much of an insight it gives us into the dedication, devotion, and commitment those working in the sector have, and can often goes ignored or taken for granted.

Once again were overwhelmed not only with the number of nominees care homes up and down the country sent to us, but the truly heart-warming and uplifting stories which once again makes us proud to be associated with such a passionate and caring profession.

It has become increasingly more difficult over the years to pick an overall winner, and we are delighted to add some “unofficial” Marks & Spencer vouchers as runner-up prizes.

I cannot say enough just how proud we are to be involved in such a vital and devoted industry, and our 4 extra runner ups are: Louise Turner: Registered Manager of The Elms Residential Home Dorset.

Aydzhan Mehmed-Mustafa: Aquarius Nursing Home. Southsea Duncan Lloyd: St Vincent’s Nursing Home in Eastcote Pinner Christine Lovell: The Firs Care Home Essex A £25 Marks & Spencer’s gift voucher is on its way!

Well done to you all!!!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who put forward nominations we had a wonderful response, it may sound tired old cliché, but it is not meant to be, when we say, that in our eyes “every nomination was a winner” and we are just sorry we cannot give an award to everybody!

Watch out for further details of our next “Unsung Hero” with the same great prize of a luxury celebration hamper!

PAGE 12 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

A Policy To Help Care Staff Engage Positively On Social Media

By Harvey Morton, Digital Expert and Founder of HarveyMorton.Digital (www.harveymorton.digital)

The care sector is more complex than most when it comes to social media. By virtue of the industry, many of the clients are vulnerable and need protection from negative forces. While social media is a tool most of us choose to engage with, it is essential to have a policy for care workers when they post or tweet to the wider world.

For the business, there are significant benefits of social media, and in no way can care sector organisations be expected to exclude all use of this channel. However, it is undoubtedly true that if handled inappropriately, there result in significant concerns for the business.

The arguments for having the policy to help care staff engage with social media are clear. Here we explore how to implement this successfully in your place of work.

Not only will you protect your clients and your brand reputation with a sound policy, but also leverage the power of employee advocacy, as they offer powerful testimony to the good your company does. Your policy doesn't have to assume the worst in people; you can also suggest positive ways that social media accounts can be used for the good of all.

WHAT WOULD A POLICY LOOK LIKE?

THE LAW You are obliged when setting up your policy to take account of the Human Rights Act 1998, which allows your employees the right to respect for private and family life, home, and correspondence. In short, your carers have a right to a private life away from work and on social media.

Equally, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 has implications for those wishing to monitor employees' social media accounts.

However, if your team accepts you as a follower or a friend on social media, you can claim reasonable consent to monitor their content. This is not the case if there is suspicion of a crime, which is when social

media and safeguarding policies in the care sector often overlap.

What is the aim of your social media policy Incidents on social media can be unpleasant. Your social media policy is in place to prevent these from occurring and offer guidance once a problem arises. The hope is that your policy will set clear expectations of social media use and reduce the potential for confusion and misunderstanding.

Dell Global is a computer brand; therefore, its policy is heavily focused on brand reputation. They ask that their employees "protect the information, be transparent and disclose, follow the law and their internal code of conduct, be responsible, be nice, have fun, and connect and take ownership of your social media account."

The idea that the individual take ownership of the social media account is an important one. It tells the employee that they take all consequences of what happens when they post to social media.

Intel offers an interesting trifecta of advice: disclose, protect, and use common sense. These simple advisories help those in the care sector, who are more likely than not used to this practice in all other areas of their career.

SUMMARY While social media is a powerful tool, it must be used responsibly.

More than any other, care organisations need to help their employees make the right decisions when posting.

Gracewell of Frome Team Members Raise Money for the Captain Tom Foundation 10 team members at Gracewell of Frome walked 190 miles between them to raise money for the Captain Tom Foundation.

The care home’s team members walked from Gracewell of Bath to Gracewell of Frome, it took just over six hours for them to complete the walk.

So far, the team have raised £885 for the Captain Tom Foundation. The team at Gracewell of Frome were so touched by everything Sir Captain Tom Moore had done and wanted to do something to honour his legacy.

Jemma Griffiths, General Manager at Gracewell of Frome, said: “We are so proud of all the team members who took part in this challenge to raise money for such an incredible cause. A huge well done to everyone involved!”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 13

Nursing Home Managers Give Frank Insights into the Care Challenges of End-of-Life Dementia Family denial, requests for futile medical interventions and unavailable GPs are just a few of the challenges faced by residential aged care managers looking after people dying with advanced dementia, new research has revealed.

The research, published in the international online journal BMC Geriatrics, reported that these aged care managers found great reward being involved in looking after people in this vulnerable group - but also found it to be a fraught experience.

The article “A good death but there was all this tension around” – perspectives of residential managers on the experience of delivering end of life care for people living with dementia was based on focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 20 managers from various care homes in NSW and Victoria with the not-for-profit HammondCare.

The research by Dr Jessica Borbasi, Prof Josephine Clayton, Prof Allison Tong, Dr Alison Ritchie, and Prof Christopher Poulos is one of the few studies of the challenges of caring for people with advanced dementia at end of life from the perspective of a nursing home manager.

Dementia, which affects at least 50 per cent of the 200,000 people living in Australian residential aged care homes, is eventually a fatal condition.

The research identified six major themes among the participants, the first being a need to establishing what families understand about dementia. Some families were in denial about death and did not want to discuss it.

“One participant said it was ‘a big signal if the family hope the person will get better and improve’ as this will inevitably require ‘ongoing conversations’,” the article noted.

Another theme that managers expressed was the need to be a peacemaker in the face of unrealistic family expectations to wage a war on dying through intensive medical interventions, like cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

These situations were often counterproductive to good end of life care with participants describing a “huge ethical dilemma” as they felt it was not appropriate to “be intervening”.

A participant described a family who asked “what can we do? How can we fix this? And we (the managers) have to constantly say to them it’s not fixable”.

Despite having palliative care needs the same as those dying of cancer, people with advanced dementia often receive little and even painful interventions at end of life and are unlikely to receive specialist palliative care in residential care settings.

The participants said they looked to GPs to assist in sharing end of life care and hoped they would work with families to facilitate acceptance of palliative care. This was not always the case.

They strategized ways to partner with GPs and “get them on the journey with us” but observed “there is almost a palpable fear from GPs” to be involved in palliative care, compounding the challenges of end-oflife treatment.

The researchers said the findings of the research project suggest that continuous front line aged care staff skill development, iterative family discussions, and partnerships building between aged care staff and GPs are all required to promote optimal end-of-life dementia care in residential aged care settings.

The research is released as HammondCare marks Palliative Care Week Sunday 23 May to Saturday 29 May. HammondCare is a recognised leader in providing world-class care and innovation in palliative and supportive care.

To read the article, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33980152/ For more on National Palliative Care week go to the following website: https://www.hammond.com.au/palliativeweek2021

‘Save Your Kisses For Us’, Care Home Residents Sing To Eurovision’s Nicky Residents and staff at a Dorset care home found the perfect way to bid a fond farewell to a Eurovision Song Contest winner who worked with them during lockdown.

Brotherhood of Man singer Nicky Stevens joined the Companionship Team at Colten Care’s Outstanding-rated Ferndown home, Amberwood House, at the end of 2020.

Over the following months, the classically trained singer and pianist sang and played music for residents, led arts and crafts sessions, quizzes and games, and spent one-to-one time with individual residents.

On the day her temporary contract finished, Nicky was astonished when residents and staff gathered to perform their own version of her band’s Eurovision-winning song Save Your Kisses for Me. With lyrics amended and personalised by Fiona Pritchard, Colten Care’s Music and Arts partner, the heartfelt musical tribute brought a tear to Nicky’s eye.

“I was busy sorting out afternoon tea with the residents and I could see a lot of staff coming down the corridor,” said Nicky. “I thought, ‘what’s going on, is there a meeting?’. Then they all entered the lounge and I said to myself, ‘this must be serious’. I never twigged until one of my fellow Companionship Team colleagues started making an announcement.

“When I heard the start of the singing, I couldn’t believe it. I heard later they had been practising for two weeks on days when I wasn’t in. I am so humbled they thought so much of me that they went to all that trouble. It made me very emotional and I had tears in my eyes. I couldn’t get over it. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.”

Sung to the same tune as the original, the lyrics included lines such as: “Though we’re sad to see you go, We just want to let you know, That your time with us has brightened every day, We’ll miss you, it’s true.”

Among those serenading Nicky was resident Sheila Wakefield who said: “It has been such a joy to meet Nicky. We’ve all loved her.”

Like other performers, Nicky had been looking forward to a busy season of gigs last year before the Covid crisis hit, prompting her to respond to a Colten Care advert for entertainers and companions.

Now, as well as hoping to confirm Brotherhood of Man engagements in the pipeline, the easing of lockdown will enable Nicky to return to her other professional music activities as a voice coach, singing teacher and choir leader.

Reflecting on her time at Amberwood House, Nicky, who lives in Corfe Mullen, Dorset, said: “It was wonderful being there. I am so glad that circumstances made it possible. The knowledge I have gained is vast. It has opened my eyes tremendously.

“Seeing the nurses, carers and companions all working hands-on, you can understand that the amount of care that goes in for the wellbeing of residents is phenomenal. I have great empathy for people who find themselves in a care home. Helping to look after them is a lovely job. If you have a caring soul, it is so rewarding. It makes you feel really good.”

PAGE 14 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

What Lessons Can the Current and Next Generation of Workers Caring for Our Elderly Learn From the Pandemic?

Prof Farhad Huwez is a certified Consultant General Physician and Geriatrician. Here he outlines some of the major learnings from the pandemic that those working with the elderly should take forward.

Our elderly population has felt the heavy weight of Covid-19 more than most.

Older people have experienced a significant period of social isolation, cut off from friends, family and communities. While it has been for their own safety, it has not come without significant cost and there are lessons to be learned to ensure the best possible care is provided to older people moving forward.

Putting aside the specifics of the pandemic for a moment, by 2050, the number of people over 65 globally is set to increase to 1.5 billion. With this ageing population, who are now also recovering from the impact of Covid-19, comes higher health and social care costs and more age-related causes of morbidity and mortality. While we were already aware of this, the pandemic has put it into even sharper relief meaning that there is a rapidly growing need for healthcare staff, in all professions, to have relevant, up-to-date training and knowledge within elderly care to meet the needs of our aging society.

And not just in a medical context, healthcare professionals who work with the elderly also need to have an established understanding of the financial, social, psychological, legal, ethical, environmental and political context of care and how this affects clinical decision-making for older people. Factors all carers have experienced in some capacity throughout the pandemic.

So how can we take these lessons forward and improve how we provide care for older people?

ATTITUDES TOWARDS OLDER PEOPLE Attitudes towards older people have been put in the spotlight, which has unfortunately revealed prevalent stereotypes and even the implication by a minority that certain older people are expendable.

Nevertheless, such attitudes, however damaging, do provide us with an opportunity to discuss, learn and utilise them to shape societal thinking regarding the elderly. After all, the mark of a caring and compassionate society is how they treat their most vulnerable. Framing discussions in such a manner forces people to consider which side of the moral divide they wish to take.

It also means that those providing care for older people must consider their own role in empowering the elderly and advocating on their behalf for the important role they play in society.

This creates an opportunity to focus resources on providing at-home care in coming years, particularly with an ageing population, as it is a preference for many and can support continued independence.

This illustrates the need for better integration between care settings. A joined-up approach within the sector is crucial to eliminating unnecessary risks, and current and future care providers must be equipped to understand how care provision works across delivery environments.

However, it cannot be disputed that care homes play a crucial role in providing care for those with multiple chronic diseases, co-morbidities, and more complex needs like dementia, and they are invaluable in providing end of life care

STAYING CONNECTED In the early weeks of the pandemic the majority of the digitally engaged world took their lives online, but care homes are often not renowned for their up-to-date technological infrastructure, and as a result many residents were suddenly without visitors, both real and virtual.

To bridge the gap as best they could we know that health and care workers stepped up to support older people to access technology to communicate with their families and friends, but this is not a sustainable approach. Post-pandemic we need a programme focused on digital inclusion of older populations as technology remains an ever-present part of our lives. Those working with older people must be upskilled to support this effort and consider how they can best utilise technology in their own care provision.

Having attended some Zoom family meetings, we have noticed the palpable positive impact on the patients. Technology has helped to bridge the barriers necessitated by the isolation required due to COVID19.

END OF LIFE CARE COMMUNICATION AND PLANNING Reports about the use of ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ or DNRs have raised concerns recently. Ensuring dignity and compassion in dying is an essential part of working with older people, and all care workers must be best supported to work with patients and their families in decision-making towards the end of life.

Amid the urgency of the pandemic there have been too many instances of poor communication around end-of-life planning. Patient agency and consent should always be at the forefront including peaceful and dignified way to eternal rest. DNR orders should be made after consideration of prime issues: the patient’s known or ascertainable wishes; the likelihood of successfully restarting the patient’s heart, and the patient’s human rights, including the right to life and the right to be free from degrading treatment. Therefore DNRs are used ethically to ensure comfort and dignity in death as priority rather than using futile procedures.

A legacy of Covid-19 must be to have more open conversations around end-of-life care, particularly for those suffering with Dementia who make up 1 in 6 people over the age of 80.

HEALTH AND CARE DELIVERY ENVIRONMENTS The suffering care home staff and residents have endured due to high transmission and mortality rates during the pandemic will have long-lasting effects, and as a result some families are favouring home care for elderly relatives.

Prof Farhad Huwez is a certified Consultant General Physician and Geriatrician, Professor of Geriatrics at New Vision University, Georgia, and Programme Leader of the Care of the Elderly Diploma MSc provided by online learning specialists, Learna (www.learna.ac.uk)

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation Joins Local Care Home Residents For Mental Health Awareness Week Staff and residents at Barchester’s Southgate Beaumont Care Community in Enfield were treated to Health and Wellbeing Seminar courtesy of Adam Millar, Program Coordinator, from the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation is a charitable organisation that was set up over a decade ago to support the local community and help change lives.

The Foundation has a long established, productive and valued partnership with its local communities to create, deliver and sustain positive change.

Adam’s talk focused on what health and wellbeing means and why they are important. Adam gave residents helpful hints and tips on how to stay fit, healthy and active during later life, and how to take care of your mental wellbeing too.

Adam said: “One of our main focuses at the Foundation is to promote a healthy lifestyle. I was delighted to meet the residents and the local community over zoom at Southgate Beaumont to discuss the importance of good health and wellbeing. As restrictions begin to lift, we hope to be able to run a community walking group from Southgate Beaumont in the future” Customer Relationship Manager, Samantha Neal, said: “Our residents are all very interested in ways to keep fit and active so it was great to hear all Adam’s advice. We are really grateful to Adam and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation for all their support. Now that restrictions are lifting, we hope the next talk will be in person so we can thank Adam properly.”

New Transparent Face Mask Shields Your Smile, Without Hiding It! Newly launched Smile Shield has a transparent panel to aid communication, whilst offering medical grade protection, and meeting all elements of the government’s Transparent Face Mask Specification. Smile Shield has also over 98% bacterial filtration efficiency, is breathable, splash proof and hypoallergenic.

It is a British invention, created by two founders Jennifer and Lisa, who also own TAD medical, known for its range of medical supplies, already widely used by hospitals, educational facilities and the emergency Services.

Jennifer Soboslay, Founder of Smile Shield comments: “Visual facial expression is a huge benefit to many industries, as communication is so important to us all, especially a smile, which can change the sentiment of the information being shared or be encouraging without words. The Smile Shield

allows lip reading, visible facial expressions, and a clearer understanding and connection between people to take place.”

The Smile Shield™ can also be used as a surgical mask. The clear front panel makes the mouth visible, which is especially important for those caring for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a learning disability, or suffer with autism or dementia.

Soboslay, adds: “We saw a gap in the market for a medical grade mask with a clear panel, that can be used by healthcare providers.”

Hypoallergenic and latex free, the Smile Shield mask is comfortable to wear and offers over 98% Bacterial Filtration Efficiency. For more information about Smile Shield, please visit: www.smileshieldmask.com.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 15

Care Minister Praises Technology During the Pandemic as She Discusses Digitisation of Social Care A virtual meeting between the Minister of State for Care and industry professionals has shone a light on the impact of technology and highlighted its benefits in providing safer, more personalised, and forwardthinking adult social care services.

Helen Whately, the Minister of State for Care, joined representatives from NHSX and Person Centred Software in a discussion chaired by Ernie Graham, CEO of Graham Care Group, which focused on the digitisation of social care, looking at the importance of two-way interoperability between the health and social care sectors.

Acknowledging that the sector has come a long way since the onset of COVID-19, with the pandemic highlighting the value of real-time data and accelerating the adoption of technology over the last year, participants discussed the benefits technology brings to everyone involved in a person's care journey.

Touching upon the technology’s time-saving benefits to staff who, thanks to technology, are being freed of administrative tasks such as paperwork that can often get in the way of providing person-centred, high-quality care, the group also discussed the health benefits to residents, who are experiencing fewer falls, UTIs and hospital admissions as a direct result.

Person Centred Software, providers of the most widely-used digital care system in the UK, also took the opportunity to update Helen on a revolutionary new integration, which can provide care homes with easy, secure and direct access to a resident's GP records. By integrating Person Centred Software's digital care management system with NHS Digital’s GP Connect and National Record Locator (NRL) services, registered nurses at care homes can now access information held by GPs at a much greater speed, enabling better

medical decisions. As well as enabling carers to provide better care which, in turn, improves resident outcomes, the integration can deliver two-way interoperability between health and social care services, ensuring a smoother journey for residents transitioning between these two settings.

Andrew Coles, head of product management at Person Centred Software, who was part of the discussion said: “On the call it was amazing to hear how the sharing of information has helped care providers, home managers and GPs delivering benefits that enable businesses to grow, free up time for carers, reduce pressure on home managers, support GPs and other health services to deliver a more efficient service and most of all to improve the lives of those receiving care.

Person Centred Software and hundreds of our customers have already started their ‘Joined Up Care’ journey and the opportunity to speak directly to the Minister of Social Care about our programme of work and to get the support from the government and NHS was a privilege. We look forward to their on-going support for future initiatives to benefit Health and Social Care services through digital transformation.”

Following the discussion, Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “People are at the heart of our care sector.

Care staff want to be able to focus their time on caring for those they look after and technology can help make that happen.

“Better use of technology frees up time and space for care staff to do what they do best. We are supporting the social care sector to make more use of technology and data to improve the quality of care and make social care a better place to work.”

Doris is Making a Difference!

At Brockington House Care Community in Hereford, Doris is busily knitting away daily making batches of beautiful cardigans, little hats, gloves and booties for premature babies.

Doris stepped up to the challenge and has been knitting for the Neonatal Unit in Kingston Hospital Surrey, where her great granddaughter works as a nurse, ever since she learnt there was a shortage of premature baby clothes.

Doris has knitted for 92 years since the age of four! Taught by her father, her and sibling would all knit in the shelter by candle light during the Second World War using wool that was donated by the service women for them to knit for the soldiers.

Knitting daily keeps Doris fit and the following of patterns and counting rows is keeping her mind active.

Well done, Doris, we think you are truly amazing giving your time and talent to a great cause.

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PAGE 16 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

What Next For Social Care?

Highland Marketing’s advisory board welcomed Jane Brightman, social care lead at Institute of Health and Social Care Management, to discuss the sector and its technology needs. A lot of hope is being pinned on integrated care systems, but when it comes to joining up health and care systems and putting the underpinning IT in place, cultural, structural and funding challenges remain.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone an unaccustomed light on social care. This has illuminated the commitment of many of those working in the sector and its importance to adults with disabilities, older people, and their families.

More harshly, it has highlighted some of its problems, including the difficulty that many people face in getting the care they need, shortages of funding, staff and technology, and the precarious position of too many care homes.

Ahead of his most recent Budget, think-tanks urged chancellor Rishi Sunak to use the limelight to announce a long-term funding plan for social care. But, in the event, he announced more stop-gap funding, while promising, again, that the sector would see its much-delayed green paper by the end of the year.

Jane Brightman, who has just been appointed to lead the Institute of Health and Social Care Management’s social care activity, told Highland Marketing’s advisory board that this needed to happen. “I want the social care to have a long-term funding settlement and a ten-year plan like the NHS Plan,” she said.

HOW INTEGRATED WILL INTEGRATED CARE SYSTEMS BE? For the moment, social care must carry on; and hope that the arrival of integrated care systems will make a difference. The recent white paper, Integration and Innovation, says they need to join-up both health services and health and social care which is run by councils, rationed by need, and means-tested.

However, while Integration and Innovation spends a lot of time discussing one aspect of ICSs - the NHS body that will be responsible for the shift to population health management and commissioning from provider collaboratives – it spends much less on the other – the health and social care partnership that will draw up an ‘overarching plan’ for public health, health, and social care.

NHS organisations and local authorities will be expected to ‘take note’ of the plan in carrying out their activities; but this isn’t a particularly strong requirement. So, as board member and former ICS chief information officer Cindy Fedell pointed out: “ICSs are an opportunity, but they are very NHS heavy.”

FUNDING FLOWS (AND BLOCKAGES) Then, there’s the money. Integration and Innovation makes some provision for strengthening the Better Care Fund and enabling the NHS and local government to pool budgets for joined-up care initiatives.

But, as advisory board chair and Salisbury’s previous mayor Jeremy Nettle pointed out, on the local government side there isn’t much cash around; and councillors may be reluctant to see any money that is available vanish into a system with no democratic accountability that is not at the forefront of voters’ minds.

“In Wiltshire, social care is our biggest expenditure, but we have 3,000 miles of roads and it is roads that people complain about,” he said.

“Local authorities have been promised some extra funding for social care this year, but it hasn’t materialised. So, people are talking about pooling funds but there may not be funds to pool.”

When it comes to care homes, Brightman said the Care Quality

Commission had determined that just 70 of the 18,000 providers were big enough to be a problem if they failed, while most of the rest are so small they will find it hard to contribute much to the integrated care agenda and the IT required to make it work.

Sitting behind all this, there is also that fundamental challenge that while the NHS component of care will be tax-funded, any social care component should be charged back to the individual. Which just adds a whole new layer of complexity to integrated care discussions.

ONE NHS AND SOCIAL CARE SYSTEM? Imaging expert Rizwan Malik said it was a shame that, for historical and political reasons, health and social care had ended up on separate tracks. “It just causes huge frustration,” he said. Mark Venables, chief executive of Highland Marketing, asked the board whether one solution would be for the NHS to take over social care.

Brightman said the idea has been floated in the past, but it would be “a huge job”. Labour has proposed creating a national social care service to run alongside the NHS, to provide scale and consistency. But recent governments have shown little interest in the idea.

Entrepreneur Ravi Kumar suggested some of the benefits of a national service might be delivered by creating a “social care brand” for the sector. But Brightman pointed out this had been tried.

Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock backed exactly this initiative when he wore a care lapel pin instead of an NHS pin to a Covid-19 press conference; and was promptly accused of ‘gesture politics’ and ridiculed for having nothing more practical to offer the sector (Independent news story).

DOWNSTREAM ACTION, UPSTREAM SAVINGS In practice, it is pragmatism that is most likely to drive integrated care.

Brightman told the board: “The trick [to getting funding from the NHS] is going to be recognising that social care can do a lot to prevent hospital admissions and to support discharge.”

As an example, she noted that treating a urinary tract infection in the community is much cheaper than treating it in an acute hospital, where patients can deteriorate to the point where they need new care packages and end up as a ‘delayed discharge’.

However, she acknowledged, social care will need status and skills to secure this kind of investment; and deliver on it. This is one of the reasons that the Institute of Healthcare Management rebranded to include social care earlier this year.

The IHSCM is now looking to provide a ‘home’ and a voice for social care leaders and managers and, perhaps, to provide certified training for them (the IHSCM is exploring a partnership with a university that may have a suitable degree programme).

The issue of certification struck a chord with Andy Kinnear who, as an NHS chief information officer, tried to drive forward professionalism in informatics by helping to create FedIP, a membership and registration body. “NHSX is describing 2021 as the year of health and social care professionalism, and it is pushing this agenda hard,” he said.

“So having the IHSCM respond to that will fit with a story that is already playing out in other places. Because we do need to get together, as health and care professionals, to push the agenda forward.”

A SECTOR THAT NEEDS TO BE MORE DIGITALLY MATURE When it comes to technology, the social care sector has a long way to go. In councils, social care is supported by a handful of small IT suppliers with care records that have been hard to integrate with NHS systems, even in big, national initiatives such as Child Protection – Information Sharing.

The CQC has drawn up a ‘what good looks like’ for digital records in the sector and has similar guidance for care homes. However, last summer, a survey discovered that a fifth of care homes had no wi-fi and that fewer than half of those that did had wi-fi in both communal areas and bedrooms.

During the pandemic, NHSX and NHS Digital worked with leading telecoms companies to address this and make sure care providers could run remote GP consultations, order prescriptions electronically, and enable residents to communicate with family and friends (Care Home Management story).

The digital agencies also gave care homes NHS mail addresses,

which Brightman said had made a huge difference. “I have heard people say that, because they are emailing from an NHS address, clinicians take them much more seriously,” she said. “It’s a great example of why the sector needs to be more digitally mature.”

She added that her priority now is to “help providers understand data and security” and to get them through the Data Security and Protection Toolkit, or DSPT, which, before Covid, was required to get an NHSmail account, and is still required for “the holy grail – shared care records.”

SMALL STEPS, BIG CHALLENGES The advisory board discussed how the structural and funding challenges facing ICSs that want to progress integrated care initiatives are likely to make themselves felt when it comes to deploying the technology needed to make them work.

Nicola Haywood-Alexander, who took up a post as chief information officer of NHS Lincolnshire six months ago, said she would like to integrate the IT teams working on different health and social care systems and fund enhancements to their software.

But the local authority and the ICS have made different outsourcing decisions, and it’s hard to secure money unless it can be banked for specific projects. “I’d really like to do more, because there is so much we need to do,” she said. “We need fibre, and satellite broadband, because sometimes on my patch I can’t get 3G or 4G, never mind 5G. “We need single sign-on so people aren’t having to log-in to so many systems. I want to roll out workflow and productivity tools. I know the argument is that [social care] should help to fund them, but if they can’t that doesn’t help us.”

IN THE END, IT’S DOWN TO PEOPLE Shared care records illustrate the challenge. ICSs will need shared care records to support teams working on different systems, generate data for population health management, and plug in digital patient services.

They have been told to have a ‘basic’ record in place by September; but it doesn’t follow that social care will be involved in that basic record and there is already evidence that in many areas it won’t be. James Norman, healthcare CIO at Dell Technologies and previous CIO at a large NHS trust, said national IT funds should be directed to ICSs to sort this out.

“I agree about raising the profile of social care and introducing standards, but at the end of the day we need to get money out to the service and into joint working,” he said.

However, Kinnear, who also has considerable experience of driving shared care records from working on Connecting Care in Bristol, argued that it’s mutual respect and goodwill not white papers, structures and funding rounds that will sort things out on the ground.

“In the end, this is about people and people working together to do things for patients and users who are not bothered about whether it is the NHS or social care or someone else entirely who is doing the job,” he said. “It is down to people in the health and care community solving things for the community.” www.highland-marketing.com

Live Music Raises Residents In Morris Carenew Cherry Trees Dementia Household Residents and staff gathered in the Cherry Trees household to watch singer Paul Watkins as he performed some all-time favourite songs from the sixties from the private garden.

Lucy Holl, Chief Executive of Morris Care said: “We’ve had entertainment streaming in our Homes via Skype throughout lockdown but there’s nothing like the real thing. We were especially touched by the residents that got on their feet and danced the afternoon away. Paul has been a hit in our Homes for a few years and they are delighted to have him back in person, albeit alfresco.”

Cherry Trees has been carefully designed and decorated to provide a haven for memory care with its 14 en-suite bedrooms leading to themed areas for socialising and relaxation. Every detail has been incorporated to make life safe, calm and enjoyable. Gallery Walls have been designed to conjure up familiar and friendly scenes with nostalgic images of the original Morris Café and Morris stores’ advertising from the 1930s – all designed to bring back happy memories. A bright and spacious dining room has

been created and decorated to resemble the original Morris Café which sat at the heart of Shrewsbury town centre in the 1950s and in its day was renowned for its afternoon tea dances and the best cakes and service in town. Here, afternoon tea will be served bringing back happy memories for residents, along with food demonstrations and live music.

Part of the brief when designing the new household was to create spaces where residents living with dementia could reminisce and to provide them with interesting and sensory stimulation. Another such item is the Morris Shop, a physical wooden shop front inlaid into the fabric of the household – handmade by the company’s Joinery Workshop – where residents will see familiar items on display from a Monopoly board from the ‘60s to a vintage camera and photographs.

Lucy Holl, CEO at Morris Care commented: “We are so pleased with how the new household has come together. Our ambition from the outset has been to create a dementia household known for contentment, security and for living life to the fullest it can be.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 17

Vaccine Status Drives Over One Million New Users To NHS App Over 1.3 million new people have registered to use the NHS App since the addition of COVID-19 vaccine status was announced on 7 May. The app, which now has over 4.8 million registered users, is one of the first internationally compliant systems to demonstrate vaccine status in the world. The COVID-19 vaccine status service allows users to easily show their proof of vaccine if required for international travel, and has been designed in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) interim guidance.

As well as accessing COVID-19 vaccine status, people can use a wide range of personalised services including GP appointment booking, ordering repeat prescriptions and viewing GP and hospital records.

Since Monday 17 May, people have logged into the NHS App more than 4 million times. The boost in downloads will have life-saving benefits as over 11,483 additional people registered their preference for organ donation via the NHS App in just 4 days.

People are also accessing services more easily with nearly 90,000 people since Monday using the app to order repeat prescriptions, saving clinicians and patients valuable time.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “The strides in technology and innovation we’ve made throughout the pandemic are having real consequences beyond fighting this virus – they’re making treatment, diagnosis and care better for patients.

“I want to thank all my colleagues at NHSX and NHS Digital who helped us to deliver the COVID -19 vaccine status service so quickly. The pace we’ve brought this to fruition is unparalleled and it is bringing immediate benefits to our wider health service. I encourage everyone to download the NHS app, it will help you access a host of services.”

For anyone in England who has had two doses of any approved vaccine and does not use the app or are unable to access digital services, they can call 119 and request a letter. The first 20,000 letters were delivered across England on Saturday.

Minister for Innovation, Lord Bethell, said: “It’s great to see so many more people using the NHS app – it allows people to easily access their COVID19 vaccine status, as well as easier access to NHS services.”

“It’s prime example of how technology is making the health service faster and easier to use” Matthew Gould, Chief Executive of NHSX, said: “This has been stood up in a matter of weeks, by a team working every hour to ensure we delivered a userfriendly service on time.

“We are really pleased with how it’s been received, and even more pleased to see it get so many people using the online services of the NHS” Between 17 May and 20 May: • 11,483 users registered an organ donation preference via the NHS App, a daily average of 2,870. This is almost ten times the number of new registrations in April of around 300 per day.

• 89,422 prescriptions were ordered via the NHS App, a daily average of 22,355. In April the daily average of prescriptions ordered was around 13,000.

• 8,091 appointments were booked via the NHS App, a daily average of 2,002. This is double the daily average of appointments booked in April of around 1,000.

Lilian Faithfull Care's Longest Serving Member Of Staff – Wendy Heeks Of 42 Years! ourselves. Carers had so much responsibility and you NEVER went sick.“ What has kept Wendy at Lilian Faithfull Care? “It’s because it’s a charity rather than being done for profit and money making gain. I think they’ve done really well.

There have been lots of alterations for the better and we always have all the equipment here, everything you need.”

After 34 years of working nights Wendy now works days on the middle floor. “In the bedrooms there is a cloud on the wall which has lots of snippets about the residents and their lives, it means you can always have a quick glance and learn about them.”

With 42 years of experience what advice would Wendy give those thinking of working in care now….? “Definitely do it and take up all the opportunities that Lilian Faithfull Care offer now.”

Lilian Faithfull Care say, Thank you Wendy for your 42 years of dedication and care!

As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Lilian Faithfull Care we caught up with our longest serving member of staff, Wendy Heeks, who has amazingly been with the charity for well over half of its history! Wendy started at St Faith’s 42 years ago when she was 17 and has been working there as a Care Assistant ever since.

“When I started there was only the main house and small annexe. There were three flours and each had one 5 bedded and one 6 bedded ward. The wards had a concertina door into a day room with a bay window. Dementia was not spoken about, it was just explained as ‘confused’. We didn’t even have a hoist, we had to use strips of calico sheets under people to lift them.”

“There were two nurses and a matron who was strict but a really lovely woman called Evelyn Newell. They did everything, there was no secretary so they also had to do all the admin and wages. We wore dresses, plain blue with white piping and white belts and white starched hats, which we had to starch

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PAGE 18 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

9 Words For Care The Queen’s Speech 2021 afforded the reform of social care only nine tiny words. This was the only acknowledgement given to a sector that impacts the lives of millions of people, and has been on the promise end of reform from multiple governments for the best part of thirty years.

Deeply frustrated by the minimal focus on social care in the Queen’s Speech, the National Care Forum – the leading association for not for profit care providers - made a call out to those who work in the sector, receive care and support, relatives and friends, providers, commissioners, local government, parliamentarians and the wider public to find out what they would have said about how important social care was – if they only had 9 words.

The response to the #9wordsforcare call out was incredible. In 48-hours, we received over 400 submissions and hundreds more who engaged and commented on the ambition for social care. The responses were angry, inspiring, emotional, sardonic, symbolic and most of all they showed that people cared.

‘We do not want proposals, we need action.’

‘Social care needs total reform not sticking plaster solutions.’

‘Ambitious reform backed by appropriate investment is needed now.’

‘Sustainable and equal access to care and support services.’

‘9 words said a lot, neglecting #care must stop.’

The responses showed that social care reform really matters to people, and that they want it to really mat-

ter to those in power. Stories from across our membership demonstrate how much of a lifeline families and individuals rely on social care.

Rifleman Stephen Vause enlisted into the Army in 2006. Stephen was deployed in 2007, initially to Kuwait, then Iraq. He was 19 when he was wounded by a mortar bomb blast.

Stephen’s disability means that he is supported in a residential care home, has limited mobility and speech, but he is adept at using a tablet to communicate or simply a swift thumbs up or down.

Alan Heath’s wife of 57 years, Judi, slipped a note into his suitcase the night before he moved into his care home, asking staff to look after “the love of her life” and care for him like she would. Judi said: “We’ve been together since 1959 - it’s a long time and suddenly I wasn’t caring for him… that was really hard. So the night before he went to the care home I wrote a letter and put it in his suitcase. It was for the staff, and I hoped they’d find it when putting away Alan’s clothes. I wrote that Alan was the love of my life, and to please look after him. And they have.”

Emma Castleton whose 17-year-old son has severe to profound learning disabilities explains: “My son will never live or work independently, and he's got two more years left in school. And what comes after that is very unclear. There is no pathways, the budgets for support are not enough, and it's very confusing. We're trying to work through what I understand is huge amounts of paperwork, which all has to be completed for when he turns 18 to find the right environment for him to be. The uncertainty and difficulty in navigating the system is heart breaking”.

Vic Rayner, Chief Executive of the National Care Forum says: “For Stephen, Judi and Emma social care reform is so much more than rhetoric or bureaucracy, it will absolutely change their lives and that of their families. The underlying message is clearly that 9 words was definitely not enough, and seriously undermines the much repeated commitment that this government will ‘fix social care’. If all the government is going to allocate to social care is 9 words – there are literally hundreds and hundreds of alternative 9 words which have made much more impact and given people a sense of hope, purpose and ambition for the future. Social care affects people and in the words of the people responding to our call ‘lack of action has impact on people and lives’.” #9wordsforcare

Tattoo Wish Granted For Care Home Resident Yet To Meet New Granddaughter Who needs a genie with a lamp, when you have staff at CHD Living's care homes helping to make their resident's wishes come true?

Care staff at Brownscombe Lodge, a CHD Living care home in Haslemere, helped resident Rodney Macedo, 56, fulfil his wish of getting a new tattoo.

Despite having never previously held a desire to get inked, Rodney’s perception of tattoos has changed drastically over the years. This shift in views initially began during a stay at his previous care home, where he became very impressed by the tattoos of his attending staff.

With a newfound appreciation for the beauty of tattoos, Rodney decided to get his very first tattoo, which was kindly arranged by one of the care staff attending him. He was over the moon when he saw the final result: a meaningful portrait of his very first grandson, Harrison.

Excitingly, Rodney has recently become a grandad again, this time to his first-ever granddaughter, Mia. What better way to pay tribute to the new arrival than by getting inked again?

When the care workers at Brownscombe Lodge heard rumblings of Rodney’s hopes to permanently commemorate Mia’s entrance into the world, they, like the kind carer before them, waved their magic wand and helped to add her to the inked family portrait (aka, residence on Rodney’s arms!).

As soon as lockdown restrictions permitted it, Mary Njogu, a care support worker at

Brownscombe Lodge, accompanied Rodney to the local tattoo shop - INK 187 studio - for the big occasion.

“Rodney was so excited and keen to get a second tattoo. He already has a magnificent one of his grandson, so it made sense to complete the set and get a tattoo of his granddaughter, too,” she said.

“Seeing Rodney’s enthusiasm was heart-warming, and so the team at Brownscombe Lodge decided to help make it happen. We are so glad that we were able to achieve this, as the result is an incredible likeness and Rodney is over the moon. We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Ink 187 Farnborough for the amazing artwork!” Mary concluded.

Proudly bearing his new, intricate tattoo, Rodney agreed, stating that: “As I have a tattoo of my grandson Harrison on my right arm, I knew I had to get one of my granddaughter, Mia, on my left arm. It hurt a bit, but it was worth it. The finished result is beautiful.”

The tattoo tribute comes at an extremely poignant time, as devastatingly Rodney has not had the opportunity to meet the newest addition to his family just yet. The Covid19 restrictions have had a significant impact on those living and working in care homes, so this tattoo will undoubtedly be all the more memorable to both Rodney and his family.

When asked how he feels about having not been able to see baby Mia, Rodney responded, “I’m sad that I haven’t been able to see my granddaughter just yet, but for the time being, until it’s safe to visit, I can just look at my arm and have hope in the fact that we will be able to see each other in person soon. It gives me something exciting to look forward to.”

Care Firm Steps Up Commitment To Staff With Real Living Wage Accreditation A Gwynedd care company is bucking the trend when it comes to employment conditions in the care industry by offering all staff the opportunity for long-term progression within a new formal career structure.

It follows Meddyg Care, which operates specialist dementia care homes in Criccieth and Porthmadog, being recognised by the Living Wage Foundation as a real living wage employer.

This involves paying wages over the legal minimum to both its staff and its contractors. There are currently just eight such companies in the Welsh care industry.

Meddyg Care wants to show that care can offer the possibility of a lifelong vocation, with good pay paired with real opportunities for training and progression with the right employer.

To this end, the new transparent career structure includes training and qualifications coupled with bonuses and regular increases in pay to enable its employees to see how they can develop.

The company believes its own plans for growth, revealed following its management buyout, will provide further opportunities to staff.

Managing director Kevin Edwards said: “This new career structure is vital if we want care to be able to compete as an industry of choice for those with ambition and the desire for a vocation instead of just a job.

“At Meddyg Care we always look to invest and develop our staff in line with the specialist provision we offer to our residents, but by paying the real living wage we want to show that carers are valued from day one.

"We all know how hard carers have worked during the pandemic, and while we want to recognise that, we also want to underline that care can offer real, rewarding careers that grow and develop with the individual.”

Laura Gardiner, director, Living Wage Foundation, said: “We’re delighted that Meddyg Care has joined the movement of over 7,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.

“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Meddyg Care, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay."

The current real living wage is £9.50 per hour for anyone over 18 and is calculated by the Resolution Foundation based on the cost of a minimum standard of living in the UK in 2021.

The UK government’s national living wage is £8.91 for those over 23, while the national minimum wage for those under 23 is £8.36.

To find out more about careers in care, visit https://meddygcare.co.uk/careers/

PAGE 20 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

Unlawful Killing Following Maughan - Increased Risk For Carers Authored by Richard Reichman, Partner at BCL Solicitors LLP (www.bcl.com) Following the case of R (on the application of Maughan) (Appellant) v Her Majesty's Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire (Respondent) [2020] UKSC 46, there is now a greater risk of an unlawful killing conclusion at an inquest, for example following a care home fatality.

In Maughan, the Supreme Court found, by a majority of three to two, that all conclusions in inquests, including unlawful killing and suicide, whether short form or narrative, are to be determined on the civil standard of proof i.e. ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

A striking effect of the judgment is that a lower burden of proof is now sufficient for an inquest conclusion of unlawful killing. Previously, the burden of proof applied was the higher criminal burden of proof i.e. ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. This is the applicable burden of proof in any related corporate or gross negligence manslaughter prosecution, whereby a jury needs to be sure that each of the ingredients of the offence is proved by the prosecution to convict the defendant.

Inquests which involve consideration of unlawful killing will be substantially affected by the Maughan judgment. Following Maughan, there are likely to be a much larger number of inquests considering unlawful killing and more unlawful killing conclusions in the future. In relation to the provision of care, such inquests may previously have considered a finding of neglect only (the lower burden of proof already applying preMaughan).

In ‘Law Sheet Number 6’, issued in January 2021, the Chief Coroner considered the likely impact of Maughan on unlawful killing inquest conclusions. Most significantly, the Chief Coroner explained the implications in terms of consistency between criminal proceedings and inquests. If, for example, a nursing or resi-

dential care home provider is prosecuted for corporate manslaughter and acquitted at trial (i.e. a jury is not sure of its guilt), an inquest can be resumed. Pre-Maughan, a conclusion of unlawful killing would have been prohibited at the resumed inquest as inconsistent with the criminal outcome. Post-Maughan, a coroner or jury only needs to be satisfied of unlawful killing on the balance of probabilities (i.e. more likely than not) and such a conclusion will not be inconsistent with the criminal outcome.

The Chief Coroner provided guidance regarding when an inquest may be resumed following a criminal trial and how to deal with potential unlawful killing conclusions. He stated that the necessity of the inquest should be “scrutinised with care” and, where unlawful killing is considered, he would expect a “well-reasoned and fact-specific approach”. The tenor of these suggestions is sensible, but the concepts are nebulous and the practical application and effect on inquests remains to be seen.

Where there is an unlawful killing inquest conclusion, it is likely that a large proportion of the public will consider that a care provider named in press reports is criminally responsible, even if they have been acquitted of any criminal offences, causing substantial reputational damage.

We are also likely to see more reviews of decisions not to bring criminal prosecutions against organisations and individuals, with the associated risks of conviction, lengthy custodial sentences, fines without upper limit, and director disqualification.

Relevant inquests are, therefore, likely to become more adversarial, with interested persons responding to the increased risk. The need for additional court time (for example, longer Pre-Inquest Review Hearings dealing with issues such as scope, witnesses and disclosure), greater challenges to Coroners’ decisions and powers and an increased use of protections such as the privilege against self-incrimination are likely to become more common in future inquests.

The care sector has seen an increased risk of regulatory investigations and prosecutions over recent years, with the first corporate manslaughter conviction against a care home in 2016 and the introduction of the offences of ill treatment and wilful neglect. There has been particular recent scrutiny due to the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic and the high numbers of care home deaths. Maughan adds to the risks facing care providers and the significant repercussions for non-compliance.

Care Provider’s High Quality Approach To Training Recognised Nationally A highly regarded competition to find some of the best employers in the country has demonstrated that Care UK is in the top three for the way it helps its team members to learn and develop their skills.

Care UK was awarded the bronze medal in the UK Employee Experience Awards under the Employee Training and Development category for its commitment to all colleagues in developing a fulfilling career through clear career ladders, comprehensive inductions, a diverse range of apprenticeships and innovative development programmes.

The awards are open to all types of business and Care UK shares the top three slots with the bank TSB and the London and North East Railway company. Care UK was the only social care provider to win in this year’s Employee Experience Awards.

This is the second year that Care UK’s commitment to its employees has been recognised at the same awards – in 2020 it picked up a silver award in the Best Company to Work For category.

Commenting on the award after attending the online ceremony, Care UK’s Human Resources Director Leah Queripel said: “We are incredibly proud to have our approach to developing our colleagues recognised in this way. We have a strong ‘grow your own’ ethos and a great many of our home managers and directors have developed their career paths from team member through to their current senior role thanks to the development opportunities we offer.

“I truly believe that this recognition reflects the fact that society is finally realising that social care offers a great career for people who want to learn valuable skills as well as make a difference to the lives of older people. And, for those who aspire to climb a career ladder to a very senior level, we can help people to make that happen through our leadership development programmes.”

Care UK is trusted by families to care for around 6,500 residents, mostly older people, many living with dementia and it has more care homes rated as Outstanding than any other provider. That level of trust and quality is very much down to having engaged and highly trained colleagues who care for residents 365 days a year in 124 homes.

The UK Employee Experience Awards reward outstanding initiatives that have improved the world of work. Leading organisations understand that enhancing the employee experience leads to happier colleagues and better customer experience. These awards recognise that ambition and are open to any employer in the country.

The awards are one of the most rigorously judged employee experience awards in the country with at least 5 independent judges per category and each entry is scored at least 10 times. Other shortlisted employers in the 2021 awards included airlines, banks, universities, motor manufacturers and insurance companies.

National Resource Consortium (NRC) and Anenta Come Together to Manage We Care Group Healthcare and Clinical Waste Services Across 16 Locations in the North and Northwest England The UK’s leading network of independent waste operators, National Resource Consortium (NRC), has announced that it has joined forces with independent healthcare waste management company, Anenta, to oversee and manage the healthcare, clinical waste and disposal services for nursing and care home operator, We Care Group.

The partnership between both waste management companies is helping the nursing and care home group achieve savings of over 14% on their waste services from the offset, with further savings to come as services are standardised across all 16 locations in the North and Northwest of England.

The resource management network, NRC, combines expertise from the UK’s leading independent waste firms to deliver unrivalled waste collection and processing capacity for We Care Group. Acting as contract manager, NRC takes responsibility for the group’s volume waste management with all services provided by their network of local members.

Through centralised contract management, NRC has already consolidated We Care Group’s existing waste contracts with various waste providers into one single, reliable point of contact across eight locations, with eight more to come. Through the ability to mobilise a national network of providers, NRC offers a single rate solution with 100% UK coverage and the flexibility to meet all We Care Group’s local needs. As a result, We Care Group is already benefitting from a 1/7th saving on its waste costs for the on-boarded care homes, thanks to a simple and transparent pricing schedule.

The three-year fixed-term contract with We Care Group com-

menced in January 2021. All 16 locations are set to be under the single agreement by mid-2022.

Commenting on NRC’s appointment Paul Jackson, Director of NRC, said: “We Care was buying waste services locally, individually, site by site, and not benefiting from the cost, waste and recycling efficiency of consolidating their estate into one contract.

“Both NRC and Anenta offer compliance and service-based packages at competitive rates under a single agreement. This provides customers, like We Care Group, with greater transparency, control and peace of mind over their healthcare and clinical waste management, which is an essential service for any care provider.”

We Care Group operates 16 Care and Nursing Homes in Liverpool, Blackpool, Southport, Leeds, Hull and surrounding areas across North and Northwest England. Specialising in residential, palliative, end of life, dementia, bariatrics and young mental health care, We Care Group pro-

vides all 735 residents with happy, safe and homely environments in which their care, wellbeing and comfort is of prime importance.

With Anenta’s dedicated, online contract management platform ‘Vector’, NRC will be able to deliver service efficiencies and identify savings that will be implemented across the group’s 16 locations.

Anenta’s cutting-edge, real-time smart technology, ensures that the We Care Group receives effective contract management against existing specifications. Going forward Anenta’s integrated solution, which ensures that services are correctly specified, will provide NRC with the data needed to offer We Care Group complete transparency and the ability to proactively manage their environmental services, all in one place.

Graham Flynn, Managing Director at Anenta, commented: “Anenta is delighted to be working in partnership with NRC to provide healthcare and clinical waste services for We Care Group. By consolidating multiple contracts, each of which has different end dates and varying prices, into one standard contract with uniform pricing, our real-time smart technology will provide We Care Group with vital savings worth many thousands of pounds each year.”

Working for more than 8000 customers, Anenta simplifies the process of healthcare waste management, collectively saving clients millions of pounds each year. Over the past five years, Anenta has saved its clients over £5.6 million.

Bernie Suresparan, Chairman at We Care Group, commented: “We selected NRC after reviewing all of our waste requirements with our procurement partner. We needed to gain control over our contracting process and to find savings – NRC offered us a centralised, managed process with initial savings – we are looking forward to developing our relationship with NRC and identifying future benefits.”

Find out more about NRC and Anenta by visiting www.uk-nrc.com and www.anentawaste.com.

PAGE 22 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

Survey Shows 167% Rise in Vegans in Residential Care Staggering figures show that residents following a vegan diet in UK residential care homes have risen by 167 percent since 2014.

There are currently more than 11,000 care homes for older people in the UK - between them catering for over 7,000 vegans and vegetarians.

Almost 1 in 6 of these homes are now committed to veggie catering excellence, via membership of charity Vegetarian for Life's UK List.

Amanda Woodvine, Chief Executive of Vegetarian for Life, cautions: "By not demonstrating that they are veggie-friendly, many care establishments are missing out on new, potential residents.

However becoming a Vegetarian for Life UK List member is a great way to evidence this. Plus you'll be joining some of the UK's leading care homes and food suppliers, committed to providing the best possible catering for your vegan and vegetarian residents.

"Once signed up, you will be kept regularly updated with expert support and news. Both free and premium membership options are available and many of Vegetarian for Life's core services are offered completely free of charge."

Some of the charity's most inspiring members have shared their exclusive stories and tips.

Nick Dutton, Operations Manager at Primrose Bank Care Home and Deputy Chair of the National Association of Care Catering ''Perception has definitely changed when it comes to nutrition. People are changing, and

there are more and more vegetarians, vegans and those with dietary needs such as coeliacs, which means the care industry needs organisations like Vegetarian for Life. Care homes in the past typically haven't been associated with great food but that is also changing. We need care homes to stand up, be more organised and change with the times and we want to be part of the narrative that care homes can provide amazing food.

"We joined the Vegetarian for Life UK List in 2018, because we noticed a lot more vegetarians and vegans coming into our care home.

We've also taken the Vegetarian for Life Memory Care Pledge, to help people maintain their ethical beliefs, especially around vegetarianism and veganism as they get older, even if they suffer any memory issues.

"We've created a vegetarian champion from one of our vegetarian members of staff, who will help keep the conversation going around the care home, on the benefits and beliefs of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.

"We've also pledged to keep reviewing our menus, especially around our vegan and vegetarian options to keep them fresh and exciting.

"As a Vegetarian for Life UK List member, we know that the support is there. Not only that, but we've had the opportunity to enter the Vegetarian for Life Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian Care Catering. In 2020, our chef Gary McGurk won 'Most

Innovative Veggie Dish' for his pan-seared watermelon.

Pictured: Gary McGurk of Primrose Bank Care Home, winner of Most Innovative Veggie Dish in Vegetarian for Life's 2020 Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian Care Catering "We regularly share content online, but being a member of the UK List has really helped us gain more publicity in the local area. Our social media posts around our membership have the most 'shares' and 'likes' out of all our content."

Victory In Europe Day at Langdale Lodge, Chesterfield Written by Alexandra Ilea. Marketing officer at Langdale Care Homes

For those who witnessed this day, it definitely remained in their memory. Almost six years of war, many lives lost, homes and families destroyed, all brought to an end. The news that the Germans had surrendered and war had ended in Europe brought great joy in people’s hearts. Cities across the world celebrated this day with street parties, dancing and singing.

Unfortunately, for many people , this year’s celebrations will be different due to the pandemic. However, we found a way to make it special for our residents at Langdale Lodge, Chesterfield. We love to host themed events to celebrate special occasions, and this time, thanks to our activity coordinator and care assistant , Joanne Gelsthorpe, we managed to bring something unique to the table. Joanne and her husband Julian are part of the re-enactment society, and celebrating history is their passion. Together with Mr Peter Whitehouse and Granville Nixon, they brought the history to us. Our main attraction was the ‘ Daimler ( Dingo) Scout Car, 1942. A British Scout reconnaissance vehicle serving in Europe and North Africa during the WW2. Our residents

enjoyed the history lessons provided by our society members, and had the chance to get inside the car, which was very difficult, but our one and only Jane Mosley, 77, with a heart filled with British pride, managed to climb into the vehicle and showed us ‘ how it’s done’, according to Jane. She waved the British flag, sang patriotic songs and together with Joanne, waved and shouted at at everybody passing by ‘ it’s done, it’s all over’ . Joanne wanted to make this day even more special, so she brought all her 1940’s clothes collection. All staff engaged in our ‘ history re-enactment’ moment, dressed in the clothes provided and with the ‘ victory rolls’ hair style , also made possible by our Joanne. Many of our elderly ladies had the ‘ victory roll’ hair style and absolutely enjoyed it. They excitement and joy brought by these amazing people to our residents cannot be expressed enough. Mr George Oldfield, 83, who unfortunately could not get in any of the cars, but used to drive one of the ‘ Dingos’ back in’ the day’ taught us, and Mr Peter from the re-enactment society, a few history lessons himself,

it was an absolute pleasure to listen and talk to him. As it was an outside event, members of the community would stop, and from the distance would ask questions and take pictures with the cars.

Children passing by seemed amazed, and we, as staff and professionals were amazed with the stories heard and how this little event brought us closer. For those who couldn’t get in the ‘ Dingo’, we had a WW2 Jeep parked outside, owned by Mr Nixon, which our residents also enjoyed taking pictures with, and , drive, as our Bernard Herron, 84, tried. It was difficult to ask Bernard not to, as he was very excited to give it a go, ‘ maybe next time’ he said. Bernard enjoyed listening about the mechanical side of the car, how it works and Mr Nixon happily obliged to the discussions.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic restrictions and to maintain the safety of our residents, we couldn’t involve the community in the way Langdale Homes would normally do, with food, drinks and musical entertainment. Our focus this time was on our residents, as they were severely affected by the pandemic and we would go above and beyond to make their life easier. After the attractions were revealed and photos were taken, the party moved inside Langdale Lodge, where our residents enjoyed a VE party with good food, karaoke , dance, games and lovely company.

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PAGE 24 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

Specialist Pharmacist Leads Unique Pilot To Prevent Falls In Elderly Care Homes

By Liz Butterfield, Immedicare Specialist Pharmacist

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to shine a spotlight on how we care for our elderly. The negative impact of the pandemic on care home residents has been immense, but there have also been glimmers of hope and opportunities to make positive transformations that improve integrated care now, and into the future.

Nearly one year ago, NHS England asked primary care providers to increase their support for care homes.1 An important element of this was integrating a pharmacist into the care pathway and providing pharmacy and medication support such as structured medication reviews via telephone or video, supporting reviews of new residents or those recently discharged from hospital, and supporting care homes with medicines queries.

Recent data suggests that some medications and combinations of treatments can contribute to an elderly person’s risk of falling.2-4 It is also well known that falls are the leading cause of emergency hospital admissions for older people5,6 and the most frequent reason for calling the telehealth clinical assessors for support and advice.7 During the pandemic, there was a clear and urgent need to protect care home residents from hospitalisation and the risk of hospital-related complications and infections, including COVID-19.

To address the combination of these factors, Immedicare*, a clinical and technology partnership between Involve Visual Collaboration Ltd and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust (ANHSFT), took action. The idea was to undertake a pilot in the Bradford District and Craven area to reduce the risk of falls recurring in elderly care home residents through proactive medication reviews, and by doing so, reduce the negative impact falls have on the resident and local health services, such as hospitalisation.

This was an area where I thought the expertise of a pharmacist, combined with the innovative technology of a telehealth service, could have a real impact. As a passionate advocate for the critical role pharmacists play in integrated care systems across the NHS, and with my experience in medicines optimisation for older people, I was keen to be involved in the pilot.

When a resident falls in one of the 690 UK care homes where the telehealth service is in place, they receive an immediate virtual clinical assessment from a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team of specialist nurses based at ANHSFT. They determine whether the resident stays in their place of care or needs to be admitted to hospital.

Before the pilot was introduced, there was a significant unmet need in Bradford District and Craven. From 125 care homes in the area where the service was in place, there were 1,420 calls between March 2020 and February 2021 relating to falls. Following a virtual assessment, 89.3% stayed in their place of care without onward referral.7 While it is hugely beneficial for residents to receive expert clinical care in their home, there is a risk their medications are left unassessed, and a future fall may occur again and result in greater harm.2-4 This is where my unique role in the pilot comes in as it is my job to assess residents that remain in their place of care following a fall and identify those that are at a high risk of falling again. I then work directly with local GPs and care home pharmacists to optimise their medication and reduce their risk of a second, potentially more damaging, fall.

The potential value of this approach is huge. Reviewing medications that are known to increase the risk of falls, and therefore reducing a person’s risk of falling, has significant benefits for the resident and local healthcare system. For the resident, it means protecting them from a stressful, disorienting hospital visit and reducing the risk of hospital-related complications and infections, such as COVID-19. For the local health system, it means reducing ambulance conveyances and emergency admissions. The approach is also fantastic for local care home and pharmacy communities, as it seeks to change the way care homes respond to their residents’ falls and ensure that a pharmacist’s input is a key component of the clinical assessment and rehabilitation plan.

While the pilot is still in its infancy, early feedback from care homes, GPs and pharmacists in the Bradford region has been extremely positive and impact data is currently being collected on medication reviews and treatment adjustments following a fall. *Immedicare is a secure, video-enabled, clinical healthcare service linking care homes to the NHS with 24-hour access to a highly skilled, multidisciplinary clinical team based at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. The service has been adopted by 690 UK care homes to date.

Love is in the Hair – Care Home Team Help Resident Rekindle Love of Hair Dressing RCH Care Homes supported Dementia Action Week by showing that with specialist training, dedication and a commitment to making a difference in the lives of those with Dementia, incredible moments can happen.

Romford Care Home specialises in supporting those living with dementias, offering a meaningful lifestyle when often the complexity of the disease can be extremely limiting in day-to-day life.

When Stuart moved in to the Dementia Nursing and Residential Home based in Romford in the spring of 2020, due to difficulties in communication caused by Stuart’s Dementia, it was hard for the team to find out more of his life history and they had to rely upon the many possessions that Stuart brought with him.

Whilst getting to know Stuart, Lifestyle Co-ordinator Hayley noticed the numerous awards, certificates, framed pictures and photograph albums crammed with images of very unique and glamourous hairstyles.

After some further research, the team discovered that Stuart’s profession was hairdressing; in fact, he’d had quite a successful and award-winning career, showing off his skills and artistry at numerous Fashion and Trade Shows, including a number for L’Oréal!

“Although he was unable to tell us the details about his career, it

obvious from his emotions that he was very proud and still very passionate about the incredible elaborate creations he was responsible for creating throughout his career” – Hayley, Lifestyle Coordinator Determined that Stuart’s history and passion for hairdressing was not forgotten, the team at Romford Care Home implemented a num-

ber of ways to make sure it didn’t.

Stuart and Hayley have spent many afternoons looking through his portfolio of work so that Hayley could understand Stuart’s passion. The team brought Stuart a professional ‘block head’ with which he could create new styles. “Watching Stuart use the block head to show off his hairdressing skills makes my job all the more worthwhile. To see the look of joy on his face and how much it brings him alive when he is doing what he loves best is breath-taking. It really is so enjoyable to sit together and look through his photo albums, I would have loved to see some of his shows in real life.”

The next step was to introduce Stuart to the home’s own Beauty Salon with the support of their own professional hairdresser. Now, every Thursday, Stuart can be found assisting the hair dresser, helping with styling tips and giving the ‘salon experience’ to other residents.

“Developing person-centred activities has huge benefits to a person’s wellbeing and is something we have always strived to excel at.

Memories of the individual’s life, achievements and personal characteristics give value to them and their family by allowing them to make the link between past and present.” said Tracy Smith, Customer Relations Manager.

Royal Star & Garter Receives A Top National Award For Its Outstanding Dementia Care Royal Star & Garter receives a top national award for its outstanding dementia care.

The charity won the Professional Excellence category at the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Hero Awards on Thursday 20 May. Royal Star & Garter provides loving, compassionate care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia, from Homes in Solihull, Surbiton and High Wycombe.

Judges were impressed at how staff across the Homes have been able to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, and continue providing exceptional person-centred care and innovative activities to residents living with dementia.

Relatives whose loved ones are living with dementia and are being cared for at the charity’s Homes say the award is in recognition of their staff’s hard work and is richly deserved.

The awards evening took place online, during Dementia Action Week, which runs from 17-23 May. It was hosted by Richard Madeley and showcased the stories of people providing outstanding care during the pandemic, recog-

nising the inspirational achievements of those who support people living with dementia.

The award is the latest Royal Star & Garter has received for its specialist dementia care, following successes in the National Dementia Care Awards and Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards.

During the pandemic, staff have worked hard to create a varied programme of tailor-made activities, with innovative events, new clubs, music, arts and games used to tackle the lack of social contact, creating magical moments for residents and raising spirits.

Residents have also been able to keep in touch with relatives through video calls, outdoor visits, Covid-secure meeting rooms and indoor visiting rooms Pauline Shaw, Director of Care at Royal Star & Garter, said: “I’m immensely proud. Through the pandemic, staff have done everything possible to make sure life continued as normally as possible for residents living with dementia.

This was no easy task, and required a huge amount of courage, dedication and sacrifices from everyone working in the Homes. This award is for them, and is in recognition for everything they have done.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 25

Patients Moved Unlawfully From Hospitals To Scottish Care Comes During First Wave, Report Finds A review of the legality of moves of patients from hospitals to care homes in Scotland at the height of the pandemic has found vulnerable people were transferred without due consent.

The Mental Welfare Commission’s new report – Authority to discharge – report into decision making for people in hospital who lack capacity – is a study of a sample of all discharges from hospitals to care homes from March to May 2020.

The Commission studied the detail of 457 individual moves – representing around 10% of all such moves reported at the time by Public Health Scotland – looking at legal authority behind each decision to move a person who did not have capacity to decide for his or herself.

The data was supplied by every Health and Social Care Partnership in Scotland (HSCP) apart from Highland, who did not meet the timescale for the report.

Of the 457 cases, the Commission found unlawful moves of 20 people. For some of these moves, there had been specific pandemic related reasons, for example, a misinterpretation that easement of the Social Work Act had been enacted as a result of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 when in fact this legislation was never activated and was removed in September 2020. One HSCP introduced an alternative to applications for guardianship orders, making decisions ‘internally’ rather than recourse to the courts, the critical safeguard for individuals. This particular practice started in response to the pandemic and ended in August 2020.

The Commission analysed all of the 457 cases further to assure legal rights were respected and protected beyond the 20 clearly unlawful moves. The Commission asked about the 338 moves said to have been authorised using a Welfare Power of Attorney or Adults with Incapacity legislation. They found that those working in hospital discharge were not always fully aware of the powers held by attorneys or guardians (this was the case in 78 out of 267 cases of power of attorney related moves) or indeed whether the attorney’s powers had been activated or guardianship orders granted.

The Commission also found confusion in relation to the reported nature of the care home placement, with potential impact on rights to protection of property where the person was admitted to a care home but remained liable for their property.

Practice was not consistent within some HSCPs or across them. Some staff reported that moving from one HSCP to another brought differences in practice into sharp focus. This is despite a range of existing guidance and policy.

The Mental Welfare Commission made eight recommendations in the report for Health and Social Care Partnerships including asking for each of them to conduct a full training needs analysis and training programme for their staff to ensure they understand the law, capacity and assessment.

There are two recommendations for the Care Inspectorate, including asking them to take account of this report in their inspection activity.

The final recommendation is for the Scottish Government to monitor the delivery of the recommendations and to ensure consistency across Health and Social Care Partnerships.

Julie Paterson, chief executive, Mental Welfare Commission, said: “People who lack mental capacity and who are being cared for and treated in care homes and hospitals are among the most vulnerable in our society. The focus of this report was to examine the detail of a sample number of hospital to care home moves of people from across Scotland, to check that those moves were done in accordance with the law during the early stages of the pandemic.

“Some of our concerns relate specifically to the significant pressures of the pandemic.

But, worryingly, the report also finds more endemic examples of poor practice. Lack of understanding of the law, lack of understanding of good practice, confusion over the nature of placements, misunderstanding over power of attorney. These findings are very disappointing and may mean that many more moves were made without valid legal authority.

“This report also finds a lack of uniformity from one HSCP to another, with different approaches to national legislation and guidance adopted in different areas.

“We call on Health and Social Care Partnerships across Scotland, the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Government to read our report in detail and act swiftly on our recommendations”.

Alzheimer’s Society Announce the Winners of the New Dementia Hero Awards 2021

The Dementia Hero Awards 2021 took place virtually this year, and honoured people from all walks of life who have done outstanding things during the pandemic to help people living with or affected by dementia – our Dementia Heroes. The pandemic hit people with dementia the worst – thousands have died, and many more rapidly deteriorating, from both the virus and the knock-on effect of lockdown, causing isolation and reduction in health and social care services.

Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Hero Awards are new awards designed to recognise the inspirational achievements of those individuals, groups and organisations who care for people with dementia, those finding innovative solutions in research, and the campaigners and media fighting for the rights of people with dementia.

The awards were hosted by Alzheimer’s Society supporter TV presenter, writer and journalist, Richard Madeley, with an array of celebrities presenting awards including Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Sir Tony Robinson, Angela Rippon CBE and Judy Finnigan. Care Minister Helen Whately and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia, Baroness Sally Greengross, also presented awards at the event, which took place during Dementia Action Week (17-23 May), for which Alzheimer’s Society launched #CureTheCareSystem campaign, asking the public to take a stand and urge Government to transform

the social care system for hundreds of thousands of families facing dementia by signing our petition. You can watch the awards, which were sponsored by Tunstall Healthcare here.

The Dementia Hero Media Awards recognised journalists whose innovative and sensitive work covering dementia made a genuine impact, highlighting issues for those affected by dementia, raising awareness and challenging common perceptions of dementia.

The Dementia Hero Media Award 2021 for National Print/Online Journalism was won by the Daily Mail Health team (Sophie Borland, Eleanor Hayward & Ben Spencer) for their pioneering work on the crisis in social care. The Dementia Hero Award for National Broadcast journalism was jointly won by Alison Holt from BBC’s News at 10/Panorama and Curve Media who produced My Dementia Choir.

In their joint feedback, the judges praised the Daily Mail Health team for the influence their social care campaign had on policy makers: “The strength of this entry was in the incredible team effort which thrust social care on to the front pages of the Daily Mail time and time again – it gave policy makers nowhere to hide. Thanks to these stories social care has taken its place at the top table of issues politicians cannot – and should not – ever ignore.”

Curve Media’s ‘Our Dementia Choir’ was hosted by Alzheimer’s Society ambassador Vicky McClure who tweeted after the awards, “So proud of Our Dementia Choir, what a huge honour! The judges felt its positive representation of dementia was unlike most depictions of the condition in the media. They all scored the show highly for the overall message of positivity, unity through music and its strong scientific backbone. They felt the voices of the people in the choir, the carers and the people living with dementia, were appropriately focused on and made the viewer feel more hopeful than hopeless. Vicky McClure’s personal commitment was a golden thread running through this joyful journey.

The judges praised BBC’s Alison Holt for reporting on dementia as something of a “passion piece” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alison undertook the reporting on her own, demonstrating commitment, keen interest and enthusiasm, while her access to care homes early on in the pandemic gave her reports a real edge.

Film producer David Parfitt also joined Kate Lee on Wednesday 19 May for a screening and Q&A of The Father, which won the BAFTA and

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film features Sir Anthony Hopkins who was awarded both the BAFTA and Academy Award for Leading Actor for his portrayal of a man living with dementia. Writer and director Florian Zeller provided a video message of support emphasising why it was so important for dementia to be on the cultural agenda.

At the event, David Parfitt said: ‘I took Florian [Zeller] to see Philip, my father-in-law who has dementia, in the lead up to the film. Liz, my wife, keeps saying to her dad ‘we’ve been making a film about you’, and he goes ‘oh, that’s nice!’ ‘You’re played by Anthony Hopkins’, ‘oh, he’s good’. Which is lovely, but of course, the next time we go, he can’t remember and the last year of course, we’ve hardly seen him at all. I think it’s certainly given us a better understanding of what he may be going through and the idea that any time we walk through the door we’re strangers.

‘What we do realise is that we’re looking at a relatively privileged family who can afford the care and he’s left in a relatively nice place, [but] we know that’s not the case for the majority of people. There’s a whole other discussion to be had about funding. Phillip was a very organised chap, who got his pensions and everything set up – we’re still going to have to sell his flat to keep this going. I know from direct experience how tough it is to keep people looked after.’

Kate Lee said: ‘The film is just so important for breaking down those taboos around dementia. It’s so important that we get across the impact of this disease and that the need of support is huge and universal, whether you can afford to buy that yourself or whether it’s provided by the state. The pain and the emotional burden of the disease is also enormous.

‘I think [the film] will do a huge amount to reduce the stigma around dementia which is ultimately one of the biggest problems of our society. People aren’t talking about it which has a huge impact; that’s why it’s not in the Government’s agenda for social care reform, and can be why people don’t go and get a diagnosis.’

Care Home COVID Deaths Rise for First Time Since January Care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have risen for the first time since January, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

In its latest weekly statistics, the ONS reported 25 COVID-19 related deaths in the week ending 14 May, up by 11 on the previous week, following over three months of declining numbers.

That compares with 15 care home resident Covid-related deaths in the week ending 7 May and 35 the week before that.

The rise is the first week-on-week increase since 2,505 deaths were recorded in the week ending 29 January.

The data refers to all deaths where either the death occurred in a care home or occurred elsewhere - such as hospitals - but the place of residence of the deceased was recorded as a care home.

Increases in Covid-related deaths were recorded in north-east England, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, eastern England, London and south-east England.

North-west England, East Midlands, south-west England and Wales all saw decreases or flat rates of Covid-related deaths.

In total, there were 2,273 all-cause deaths in care homes in England and Wales in the week ending 14 May meaning Covid-related deaths accounted for 1.3 per cent.

As well as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) provides numbers of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes in England that are based on the date the death was notified to the CQC. From 10 April 2020 (the first day when data were collected using the CQC's new method of identifying deaths involving COVID-19) to 21 May 2021, there were 29,372 deaths of residents in care homes involving COVID-19. Of these deaths, 8 were notified in the week up to 21 May 2021.

Because of a revision of the coding for the CQC data, it has been identified that some deaths between 2 November 2020 and 22 April 2021 initially coded as “not COVID-19 have been updated to either “confirmed COVID-19” or “"suspected COVID-19”

PAGE 26 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

HYGIENE & INFECTION CONTROL

Seconds Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Skin and surface hygiene specialist, GOJO Industries-Europe Ltd, supports the WHO’s annual ‘Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’ campaign

Skin health and surface hygiene expert, GOJO Industries-Europe, is proud to be part of the global movement to improve hand hygiene and is once again supporting the World Health Organization’s annual ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands’ campaign. Its worldwide advocacy day falls on 5th May, and this year it is focused on achieving appropriate hand hygiene action at the point of care. Its ‘seconds save lives – clean your hands!’ slogan reinforces the message that taking a little extra time to practise hand hygiene makes all the difference.

To achieve this, healthcare workers should have access to good-quality alcohol-based hand rub products, clean water, soap, single-use towels and an adequate number of functioning sinks within patient zones. This enables hand hygiene practise at the five key moments: before touching a patient, before clean/aseptic procedures, after body fluid exposure/risk, after touching a patient, and after touching a patient’s surroundings.

2021 has also been designated the ‘International Year of Health and Care Workers’, so focusing on their protection is just as crucial. The PURELL brand’s focus on ‘formulation without compromise’ means that products in the range have been proven to maintain skin health and have high antimicrobial efficacy. In fact, in scientific tests, PURELL Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub was found to kill 99.99% of the most common germs that may be harmful, including Coronavirus, with a contact time of just 30 seconds.

Chris Wakefield, Managing Director UK & Ireland, GOJO IndustriesEurope Ltd comments, ‘As a founder member of the WHO Private

Organizations for Patient Safety group, we are strong advocates of making hand hygiene second nature to everyone – this past year has shown how this is more important than ever. We hope that this year’s campaign encourages everyone to do their part, as it takes commitment from all for

hand hygiene programmes to be successful.

‘We strongly encourage everyone in the healthcare industry to unite in support of hand hygiene improvement. As well as healthcare workers cleaning their hands, IPC practitioners need to continue mentoring and championing the act, facility managers must ensure that supplies are available at every point of care, and policy makers should invest now to enable hand hygiene for all. Everyone, the general public included, must make clean hands a habit. It protects us all.’

Backed by a wealth of scientific expertise, and specialist formulations, GOJO has the technology and experience to work in partnership with healthcare managers to implement effective hand and surface hygiene regimes, and promote hygienic and compliant hand hygiene behaviour.

Assets, such as posters and product placement guides are available to download from GOJO’s dedicated ‘Hand Hygiene Day’ page at www.gojo.com/WHO-May-5 from mid-April.

Free advocacy toolkits to support the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign are available on the WHO website: http://www.who.int/infection-prevention/campaigns/clean-hands/en/ WHO invites everyone to use the hashtags #CleanYourHands #HandHygiene #InfectionPrevention on social media to ensure Save Lives: Clean Your Hands posts are picked up by the campaign.

For more information, call +44 (0)1908 588444, email infouk@GOJO.com or visit www.GOJO.com

Take Maximum Control of Washroom Hygiene, Efficiency and Sustainability New from Kimberly-Clark Professional is the Scott® ControlTM Mini Twin Centrefeed Toilet Tissue system designed to deliver maximum hygiene, efficiency and sustainability in healthcare and hospital washrooms. Just launched, the new dispenser is the most hygienic in the marketplace1 and is the highest capacity centrefeed toilet tissue system available.

Launched as part of the Kimberly-Clark Professional 360 Hygiene & Protection programme, the new twin system provides the healthcare sector with optimum hygiene, with a one-wipe-clean dispenser that is designed with no shut lines or key holes.

“In the healthcare sector, hygiene plus the safety and wellbeing of staff and patients, is the highest priority as it copes with the ongoing pandemic,” says Richard Millard, EMEA Senior Category Manager, Bath Tissue, Kimberly-Clark Professional.

“The pressure on Healthcare Facility Managers and cleaning staff to deliver hygiene without compromising efficiency is higher than ever. This system is designed to reduce hygiene risks and refill events, enabling cleaning staff to be deployed to other more critical hygiene duties.”

Designed with fully enclosed, protected rolls for touchless dispensing, the new system avoids cross contamination as users only touch the sheet to be used. Controlled single sheet dispensing reduces paper usage for exceptional cost in use and maximum efficiency.

A never-run-out twin design delivers 100% tissue availability and reduces the need for refills for improved efficiency of staff and provides guaranteed dispensing reliability – every time.2 Fewer refills means less chance for cross contamination keeping staff, patients and visitors safe and confident that facilities are well stocked and managed for their comfort and convenience.

The most hygienic and highest capacity toilet tissue system ever from Kimberly-Clark Professional, the Scott® ControlTM Twin Centrefeed Toilet Tissue System is ideal for busy washrooms in high footfall environments. It has 1,666 sheets and a total of 408 metres of tissue per fully loaded dispenser which means it has 82% more metres and 426 more sheets than other twin centrefeed systems.

A full dispenser provides sufficient tissue for a huge 408 visits versus typically just 72 visits with a competitive

single bulk pack folded toilet tissue system. Compared with uncontrolled, toilet tissue systems, the new twin centrefeed dispenser provides up to 378 more visits than a small roll toilet tissue and up to 285 more visits than a 2x200 metre competitive jumbo toilet roll.

“Using a controlled toilet tissue system is the future for delivering maximum efficiency. The wastage generated from jumbo roll and small roll formats makes them not the preferred choice for high traffic environments”, adds Richard Millard.

In today’s world, hospital and healthcare facilities must ensure that heightened hygiene risks are managed with no concessions for efficiencies and sustainability targets. Meeting sustainability KPI’s is crucial for Healthcare Facility Managers with responsible and recycled products increasingly in demand.

Meeting such a demand, the new Scott® Control™ Twin Centrefeed Toilet Tissue is produced from 100% recycled FSC certified fibre, with roll packaging also 30% recycled and 100% recyclable. Additionally, the controlled dispensing of the new system reduces paper use and reduces the need for storage and transportation of supplies.

Washroom waste is avoided with this highest capacity system which has a roll change indicator to alert staff when supply is running low.

Domestic Managers need worry less about the hygiene and maintenance headaches of toilet blockages. The Scott® branded quality toilet tissue has excellent paper disintegration avoiding disruptive blockages.

“The Scott® Control™ range offers a complete washroom solution for the hospital and healthcare sector, delivering increased hygiene without compromising on washroom efficiency or sustainability,” adds Richard Millard. “As with all our washroom systems, the Scott® ControlTM Twin Centrefeed Toilet Tissue system delivers unmatched market leading hygiene and efficiencies, so our customers can provide facilities that support the safety, health and wellbeing of staff, patients and visitors during these challenging times now and uncertain ones ahead.”

To register your interest for a trial or find out more, visit https://home.kcprofessional.com/uk/scottTwin To see the system in action, watch our video here https://youtu.be/D1re4N1Bc_E

Angloplas Dispensers Help Reduce the Risk of Cross Infection Angloplas are a UK manufacturer who specialise in producing dispensers for the health and hygiene industry.

Although these are designed to keep the workplace tidy and uncluttered they are, more importantly, built knowing the control of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a priority for healthcare providers, and who are employing a combination of infection prevention and control strategies, including hand hygiene, cleaning, training and the adoption of new technologies, to tackle the problem.

As a result, a wide range of infection control products and technologies are emerging on the market, including antimicrobial technology.

Angloplas’ range of dispensers are produced in the world’s first proven Antimicrobial PVC with

Haigh Engineering Resident and patient waste is a day to day practical matter that simply cannot become a problem for frontline carers and nursing staff. With the raised awareness of cross infection risks, the proven reliable waste disposal systems from Haigh are recognised more than ever as being a key part of the toolkit for ensuring that human waste is effectively and efficiently removed as a source of risk, day in day out, without the risks and complications of either washing pots or manual bagging waste for collection.

The team from Haigh have been working hard to support this beyond just the manufacture of the Incomaster and Quattro waste disposers here in the UK, but also developing innovative and safe

silver ion technology and which is exclusive to Angloplas. This helps reduce the risk of cross infection by stopping the growth of bacteria and mould and works continuously for the lifetime of the product, reducing levels of bacteria such as MRSA, E Coli, Legionella, Salmonella and mould by up to 99.99%.

For non-clinical environments Angloplas has recently launched its new Budget Range of products which are made to the same exacting standards as the antimicrobial protected ones but with lower price tags.

You can order Angloplas products directly from its website by going to www.angloplas.co.uk and clicking Hospital, Health and Hygiene or by using the Quick Response code.

methods to enhance the servicing provisions that are available to customers. The recently launched allinclusive rental proposition has proven particularly effective and popular with new and existing customers alike, not least as it reduces the operational, maintenance and financing headaches from sites which have more critical matters to address.

For more information about incontinence and bedpan waste disposal please feel free to contact the Haigh team on 01989 763131 or info@haigh.co.uk

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 27

HYGIENE & INFECTION CONTROL CleanRite, Proves Efficacy of Hypochlorous Against SARS-CoV-2 to Offer New Generation of Alcohol-Free Sanitisers Launching in the UK CleanRite sanitisers, a new dermatologically advanced solution to keeping surfaces and hands guarded against COVID-19 is launching in the UK in April 2021. CleanRite is a new generation disinfectant range to ensure surfaces, the air in areas such as care homes, as well as hands - are all protected from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

THE ‘WONDER’ OF HYPOCHLOROUS The CleanRite range of sanitising products are Hypochlorous-based (HOCl) which is an anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial solution, proven to kill 99.9% of germs on contact.

Specifically, Hypochlorous has been proven effective against SARS-CoV-2 in an independent lab test carried out by Richard Stanton, a Reader in Division of Infection & Immunity at the School of Medicine at Cardiff University. Fully regulated and child-friendly, CleanRite, which dries quickly and leaves no sticky residue, is perfect for use in care homes - as well as being dermatologically tested and suitable for use from birth.

Caroline Fogarty, Managing Director, CF Pharma, said, “In laboratory tests we were able to show that the Hypochlorous ingredient in CleanRite killed the SARS-CoV-2 virus within 30 seconds. Hypochlorous is a ‘wonder’ ingredient because not only is it free of alcohol and harmful chemicals, it is hypoallergenic and skin friendly. It is as natural as water and doesn’t need to be rinsed off. So not only is it people-friendly, but it is planet-friendly too.

“I believe that Hypochlorous is the future of everyday sanitisation. As we learn to live with the need for heightened sanitisation even after lockdown is eased, choosing something that is gentle on your skin, eyes, lungs and even the environment makes CleanRite ideal for long-term usage.”

CLEANRITE – BOTH POWERFUL AND SAFE CleanRite is an alcohol-free hypoallergenic sanitiser. It is highly effective without dehydrating, irritating, stinging or damaging skin or eyes making it perfect for all skin types, including sensitive skin.

CleanRite is highly effective on multiple surfaces and equipment including kitchen worktops (since it is food safe). And unlike most alcohol-based products, CleanRite is non-flammable.

Clare Hughes (MPSI BSc PHARM), Founder, CF Pharma said, “The advanced CleanRite formulation based on Hypochlorous, makes this ‘nature’s powerful disinfectant’. Indeed, Hypochlorous, which is produced naturally by the body’s white blood cells to support the human immune system in fighting infection and bacteria, has been used in wound-healing for decades.”

Caroline Fogarty said, “It looks like we are going to be living with the need for increased sanitisation for some considerable time. So being able to offer a sanitisation range that has a skin friendly pH for family use, from birth, makes CleanRite an essential tool for everyone as we navigate the new normal.”

AVAILABILITY CleanRite is manufactured in various sizes from 60ml to 4500ml with convenient 60ml and 150ml finger sprays for travel available, which are for sale on Amazon For further information, to view the full range of products or to place an order for your business, visit CleanRite CF Pharma http://cleanrite.ie

Fellowes Aeramax Pro Air Purifiers Certified to Remove 99.9% of Airborne Coronavirus and H1N1 Flu Leading commercial air purification manufacturer, Fellowes, is pleased to announce its AeraMax Pro air purifiers have shown a 99.99% airborne reduction of a coronavirus surrogate within 60 minutes of operation.

With the recent, intensified focus on the reduction of airborne transmission of viruses, a number of worldwide bodies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ASHRAE, as well as ‘healthy building’ scientific advocates, have recommended that portable air cleaners using HEPA filtration can help in the protection against SARS-Cov-2. This is particularly key for settings such as care homes, where occupants have an increased level of vulnerability to the spread of disease and therefore require this additional protection.

In response to this, air purification expert, Fellowes recently arranged for its AeraMax Pro purifier, which has a four-stage TRUE HEPA filtration system, to be independently tested for efficacy in the reduction of two of the most healththreatening airborne-transmitted contaminants seen in recent times – coronavirus and the H1N1 virus.

UK Care Homes Use Groundbreaking Health Technology to Maintain Clean Air and Surfaces

Care home owners have been among the first customers to purchase air and surface sterilisation products from Medklinn, the international health technology company, which recently launched in the UK. Following confirmation from scientists from Fujita Health University in Japan, that low concentrations of ozone gas can be used to neutralise coronavirus particles without causing harm to humans, UK care homes have an alternative method to sterilise the air and surfaces in their premises without the use of chemicals.

According to the university research, low-level ozone gas in concentrations of 0.05 to 1.0 parts per million (ppm) could be key to neutralising the spread of coronavirus in healthcare settings such as examination rooms and waiting areas.

Medklinn International, the health technology company that has pioneered research and development into negative ionisation and ozone in the sterilisation process, already provides air and surface sterilisation solutions in ASIA, the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany. Now the business has launched in the UK. Daniel Lu, chief technology and innovation officer of Medklinn International, said: “We are pleased to be bringing our health technology to the UK. The announcement from the team at Fujita Health University in Japan further demonstrates that ozone sterilisation technology is a viable alternative to the use

of chemicals for disinfection.”

In addition to the latest breakthrough in neutralising coronavirus particles, Medklinn products are also proven to be effective in: • Killing 99.9% of harmful microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria, mould and fungi by destroying their RNA and DNA structure • Eliminating volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including those with adverse health effects • Neutralising allergenic organic compounds such as pet dander and the protein in the faeces of dust mites, which are often the cause of allergies Steve Jones, Brand Manager Medklinn UK, said: “We’re really excited to be launching Medklinn UK. Our products are already used by some of the leading global brands in the healthcare, travel and tourism, retail, education, F&B and hospitality sectors, including Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental and Singapore’s Changi Airport. We believe that they will be particularly useful as we make gradual steps towards easing restrictions and reopening the UK following the lockdowns over the past 12 months.”

Medklinn UK offers a consumer range of products suitable for the home and for use in vehicles.

It also offers a range of air and surface sterilisers designed for business use including: • Permanent units for spaces up to 1,000 sq ft such as hotel guest rooms, washrooms, offices and classrooms • Permanent units for large spaces of 3,000 sq ft or more such as hotel corridors, washrooms, restaurants, halls, offices, exhibition centres, supermarkets, food processing and manufacturing plants • Portable units for ad hoc treatments of indoor odours recommended for hotel guest rooms, restaurants and facilities management It will also offer ozone water systems (for washrooms, industrial kitchens, food processing factories) and integrated sterilisation systems (for public washrooms, food processing and F&B outlets and supermarkets).

For further information about Medklinn UK please visit uk.medklinn.com or contact medklinn@tunnelight.net.

Certified by Shanghai WEIPU Chemical Technology Service Company, Fellowes AeraMax Pro air purifiers demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the aerosolised airborne concentration of Human Coronavirus 229E in a test chamber, reaching 99.99% airborne reduction within one hour of operation. As it is not yet possible, or ethically responsible to aerosolise Sars-CoV-2 for airborne testing in the current climate, the coronavirus 229E was used as a surrogate to SarsCoV-2.

Furthermore, AeraMax Pro air purifiers have also been proven to remove 99.9% of the H1N1 virus within 35 minutes of operation, as certified by Airmid Health Group Limited in Dublin, Ireland. When installed in a care home environment, AeraMax Pro therefore offers outstanding protection against the transmission of coronavirus 229E and the H1N1 virus between staff, visitors and vulnerable residents.

For more information about Fellowes AeraMax Pro air purifiers, visit www.aeramaxpro.com/uk

PAGE 28 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

CATERING FOR CARE

Dysphagia Call to Action

By Sophie Murray, Head of Nutrition and Hydration, Sunrise Senior Living (www.sunrise-care.co.uk)

In the industry we know that the numbers are rising for those who have swallowing problems and the skills required to modify foods are greatly needed in some sites as catering staff need much more than an ability to use a blender to break food down. This is as a result of the safety framework which ,many of us know called IDDSI, standing for International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative which has been built upon research of swallowing to be able to give very precise levels which comprise of very specific food and drink test to deduce if it is safe for the Level. Most foods can be modified but not all and the modification process requires equipment, techniques and knowledge. As foods themselves vary in texture, it is not as simple as adapting a recipe – a banana or an avocado are 2 examples of foods which can vary greatly in their ability to be soft enough to push a fork through with little pressure, and other foods such as white fish do not blend smoothly to a puree so may need to be replaced with an oily fish for a person who requires a pureed diet There are publicised cases of fatalities such as in 2017 when a care home was prosecuted and closed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after a resident choked on porridge twice in one day and died.

Protocols and processes between care and catering teams needs to be watertight so that only those trained correctly modify the foods and this includes all snacks too – careful management to ensure safety as well as choice are prime considera-

tions – in itself this has challenges as a persons may have recommendations for Care homes seeking to buy in ready modified food need to ensure that this matches the menu properly and meets needs and choices so that there aren’t There IS only one qualification that can formally train and accredit Chefs called the Level 2 Award for Chefs in Healthcare but there are few providers offering this due to poor uptake and awareness https://www.cthawards.com/qualifications/culinary-programmes/cth-ioh-level-2-specialist-award-chefshealth-social-care/ There is also a framework for care teams called the Inter-professional Dysphagia Framework (IDF) which sets out the knowledge and skills care staff require to do safely care for a person with swallowing problems. The IDF should be implemented in every care home to ensure residents receive safe and effective care but in reality care homes don’t all know about it and it needs translating to a workable process with solid training although it is written with good clarity.

Speech and Language Therapists are a great source of knowledge and support for care teams as they are the identified professionals who can diagnose a swallowing condition and recommend appropriate IDDSI Levels.

IDDSI has set up a UK reference group so that best practice can be shared across the UK and organisations such as the NACC can provide support to care homes needing traning and awareness When risks are fatalities as a result of poor practice, there is much to do to ensure amazing food and choice is offered and residents are safe from harm as a result of choking or aspiration.

The high risk is choking and aspiration.

Are You in Need of Dysphagia Training ? *

*This training is intended for healthcare professionals only.

Did you know that between 50-75% of nursing home residents suffer from dysphagia1? Nutricia has a training solution for you, a FREE e-learning covering the fundamentals of dysphagia management using Nutilis Clear.

The training is divided into 4 sections and has been specially designed for busy health and social care staff caring for people living with dysphagia. It takes 60 minutes in total to complete, however you can complete one section at a time.

HOW CAN THIS TRAINING HELP YOU? • Easy & convenient online solution to dysphagia training • Visibility to track progress in your care home • Raise the quality standard of dysphagia care in a consistent way The quality standards aim is for all new health and social care staff members caring for patients with Dysphagia to complete the modules as part of their induction pro-

gramme. Existing health and social care staff members should also complete the learning to support their continuing professional development.

There is a certificate that can be downloaded once the training has been successfully completed.

Use the camera on your phone to scan the QR code to access the e-learning and get started!

For any questions contact your local Nutricia sales representative or our Resource Centre at resourcecentre@nutricia.com.

Nutilis Clear is a Food for Special Medical Purposes for the dietary management of dysphagia and must be used under medical supervision.

Reference: 1. O’Loughlin G, Shanley C. Swallowing problems in the nursing home: a novel training response.

Dysphagia 1998; 13, 172-183.( https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/clinical-information/dysphagia)

Coping with Food Refusal

By Jane Clarke, Dietitian and founder of www.nourishbyjaneclarke.com

activities, leading to a reduction in wellbeing and quality of life. They will become weaker, increasing risk of falls, confusion and infection. Recovery from illness or surgery will take longer. If they are already vulnerable or living with a health condition, they may deteriorate faster.

But there are strategies that can help break the cycle of food refusal and encourage someone to begin eating again, while at the same time treating them with dignity and respecting their right to choose not to eat certain foods – after all, we all have our favourite flavours, as well as tastes and textures we can’t easily stomach. Here are some ideas…

MAKE EVERY MOUTHFUL COUNT If portions are small, it’s essential they contain as much nourishment as possible. Enriching foods with additional vitamins and minerals, protein, carbohydrates and calories can be as simple as adding extra vegetables to a tomato sauce, grating some Cheddar cheese into mashed potato, or adding extra lentils and a swirl of cream to a soup.

DON’T SIT AT THE TABLE From childhood to old age, the rhythms of our day tend to revolve around mealtimes – and that doesn’t change once we move into a care setting. Breakfast, lunch, teatime and supper bring residents – and carers – together around the table, and can provide precious moments of sociability, fun and connection, as well as healthy food to help maintain strength and resilience.

That changes when a person refuses to eat, or is reluctant to have more than a few mouthfuls. There are lots of reasons for this – living with a condition such as dementia; feeling unhappy in a new setting; grief or illness. As a carer it’s important to tackle food refusal as soon as possible, because the less a person consumes, the less their body and mind seems to feel a need for food.

Without the nourishment their body needs, an individual’s health will suffer. They will have less energy to be engaged in physical and social

This sounds controversial and I am a huge advocate for the pleasure of shared mealtimes, but they can feel overwhelming for some people and this is when the habit of refusing to eat can set in. Instead, try serving a small plate of food on a tray while they watch TV or listen to the radio. It can take the pressure off having to ‘perform’ at the table, and you may find they nibble more than expected.

SERVE A NOURISHING DRINK A ‘meal in a mug’, like a cup of soup, a fruit-filled smoothie, or an allnatural meal replacement Nourish Drink, is a good option for anyone who feels overwhelmed when a full plate of food is put in front of them. You’ll have the reassurance that the person you are looking after has had the equivalent nutrients of a complete meal but in a form that slips down more easily than a plate of cooked food. You could try this mid-morning or mid-afternoon, instead of the usual tea and biscuit.

SWAP MEALTIMES AROUND

If the person you care for has a bigger appetite in the morning but feels too tired to eat later in the day, then provide a more substantial breakfast and take the pressure off the evening by providing a smaller snack for supper. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to having dinner for breakfast or lunch at 4pm – it’s what works best for the individual and their appetite.

EAT TOGETHER Some people don’t like to eat alone. If some meals take place in a resident’s own room, rather than a dining room, try to take the time to sit and chat with them while they eat rather than getting on with a job elsewhere.

It can make meals feel a lonely, challenging time for the person you are caring for, and you may find they eat more when you are with them, rather than you returning to a plate of uneaten, cold food.

If residents do sit at the table together, place the reluctant eater next to someone with a heartier appetite, as it may prompt them to follow suit and eat more.

FOLLOW THEIR CUES We all have favourite foods so it’s worth trying to find out the dishes a person really loves. Even if they’re no longer able to enjoy the same meal, you could capture the flavours in a more accessible alternative – a roast chicken soup instead of a roast chicken dinner, say. Depending on the cognitive abilities of the resident, you could try creating a food and memory moodboard together, with photos of foods that remind them of happy times – ice cream on the beach, roast dinner on a Sunday, kippers for breakfast… It’s a great way to tempt the appetite and spark conversation.

BE ENCOURAGING If you ask a reluctant eater if they’d like potatoes or a pudding, the answer is likely to be ‘no’. Instead, respectfully cajole them to eat by saying, ‘Let’s try a potato, or a spoonful of ice cream…’ By encouraging a few mouthfuls, rather than giving a yes or no option to a meal, it’s amazing how many people will be tempted to take a bite, and then another, and before you know it, a good portion will be eaten.

PAGE 30 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

CATERING FOR CARE Activities & Ideas For Your Vegetarian Care Home Residents Charity Vegetarian for Life (VfL) has plenty of inspiring ideas to help you cater for your vegetarian or vegan (veg*n) residents and celebrate their lifestyle choice.

Even if you don’t have veg*n residents at present, it's always a good time to introduce new foods. You’ll likely find your residents are happy to try some meat-free options.

Here are VfL’s top tips: Host a vegetarian supper club, planning and serving a three-course meal. Here’s a suggested menu: Starter: Carrot, Ginger & Orange Soup (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recip es/budget-recipes/carrot-gingerand-orange-soup) Main: Mushroom, Nut & Cranberry Wellington (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/main-meals/mushroom-nut-cranberrywellington) Dessert: Sticky Toffee Pudding (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/cakes-and-puddings/sticky-toffee-pudding) Run a veg*n food tasting session: e.g. vegan ice cream, vegan cheese, plant milks, faux meat products, tofu, or hummus and veggie dips. You could even make score cards and pick a winner at the end.

Experiment with more unusual ingredients, such as banana blossom ‘fish’, or jackfruit curry. You might even use silken tofu to make a mousse, quiche, or scrambled tofu. Play ‘guess the ingredient’ first, and let residents suggest what you might make with it – a great way to start discussions and share experiences.

It’s also a good sensory activity because people can see, touch, smell and taste the different foods.

If the weather is good, why not host a vegetarian picnic or BBQ? Here are some recipe ideas: Black Bean Burger (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/main-meals/black-bean-burger) Sandwich Platter (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/soups-and-sandwiches/sandwich-platter) Coronation Chicken Pastries (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/lighter-meals/coronation-chicken-pastries)

Whether vegetarian or not, many people have a favourite meal that just happens to be meat-free. Those that do consider themselves veg*n will likely enjoy being able to reminisce and share why they follow this lifestyle. Print photos of common vegetarian products from years gone by or find old vegetarian cookbooks to encourage conversation. Here’s an example of some products that one older vegetarian misses.

Visit VfL’s website (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk) for some suggested questions/conversation starters.

Invite a VfL chef to deliver a virtual or in-person cookery demo for your residents. They’ll take the pressure off your chefs and activity co-ordinators, and deliver a themed demo for you.

Here’s what recent participants have said: “It was brilliant, well presented, and the demonstrator was very likeable and did a great job.”

“I’ve taken part in lots of video cook-alongs recently and have found them quite stressful. However, this one was really informative and easy to follow.”

For a novel activity for residents, VfL runs a ‘virtual vegan lunch club’ on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

It’s open to vegetarians, vegans and meat reducers, aged 65+.

Recipes are sent in advance. Buy your ingredients, and cook the dishes on the day ready for the Zoom chat at 1pm.

Talk cookery, recipes and more, and meet likeminded people from across the UK. For residents that are less tech savvy, but keen to connect, VfL runs a veggie pen- and phone-pals scheme (https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/pages/pen-andphone-pal-scheme). The scheme has linked tens of like-minded people from across the UK, and many lasting friendships have been forged.

One member said: “I love it, I really do. It’s the best thing I’ve done in a long, long time. I speak to a few people from the scheme and I’m delighted with how well it’s going” Caterers can get ahead of the curve with VfL’s accredited training. Topics include what veg*ns eat; plant-based nutrition and fortification; meal planning; and alternatives to meat and dairy. Each bite-sized module includes easy-to-follow recipe videos and fantastic, tasty recipes. What’s more, it’s British Dietetic Association accredited.

Carrot, Ginger and Orange Soup

Serves: 4 Dietary requirements: Dairy-free, Egg-free, Halal, Kosher, Vegan Ingredients Good glug of olive oil 4 small onions, chopped 4 garlic cloves, chopped 2–3 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated Zest and juice of 2 oranges 8 carrots, peeled and sliced 1 litre water with vegan stock or 4 tsp vegetable bouillon Couple of pinches of cayenne pepper or chilli powder (optional) Sea salt and pepper to taste To serve Coconut yoghurt or vegan crème fraiche (optional) Chopped coriander leaves Instructions • In a saucepan, gently cook the onion in the olive oil until softened.

• Add the garlic, ginger and orange zest. Cook for a minute or so and then add the carrots, stock, and cayenne pepper or chilli powder (if using).

• Simmer until the carrots are tender.

• Using a hand blender, blend the soup until smooth.

• Add the orange juice and season with salt and pepper.

Blend again briefly to mix.

• Reheat gently. Serve with optional dollop of coconut yoghurt or crème fraiche, and a sprinkle of chopped coriander on top.

LAUNDRY SOLUTIONS Forbes Delivers a Streamlined Solution for National Care Groups A national care group needs to know that they are delivering a consistently high standard of care and in order to do this they need to ensure that they are working with service partners that they can trust. When it comes to laundry provision, centralised procurement and management teams want to know that they will have access to a streamlined process for all on-going account and service management.

Forbes Professional offers a nationwide delivery of a localbased service, with the security and reliability that comes from being a long-established company. Our expansive network of depots and field engineers enables a highly responsive service and maintenance response, which is mobilised via a dedicated hotline at our head office. We work closely with clients to devise the solution best suited to their requirements; conducting comprehensive site-surveys, offering detailed CAD designs and always specifying the most

appropriate, industry compliant machines. We choose our manufacturers extremely carefully to ensure that we are offering the highest quality of both product and service. For the care sector, hygiene is always of paramount importance and our commercial laundry equipment fully adheres to the relevant WRAS and CQC guidelines for infection control.

All of our laundry equipment is available for rent, lease or purchase with maintenance.

Our Complete Care rental solution gives access to premium equipment without upfront capital outlay and with no repair or replacement bills for the life of the contract. National care groups are always assigned a dedicated account manager who remains their point of contact, centralising all account management for a highly efficient process that keeps things simple for both procurement teams and care management staff. www.forbespro.co.uk info@forbes-professional.co.uk 0345 070 2335

Cash’s Labels- “The Name Behind the Name”

At Cash's, we aim to capture, reinforce and communicate our clients’ brand equity through quality and innovation, from design to distribution.

Our product range fully caters for the needs of both small and large retailers and brand owners alike comprising of woven and printed labels, woven badges, care labels, branded and promotional swing tags, garment accessories, packaging and barcoding.

Our ground breaking labelling and security technologies are also able to provide an unrivalled level of protec-

tion to our customers' brand by assisting to combat counterfeiting and grey market activity.

Our industry leading eCommerce system is designed to reduce cost, improve efficiency and streamline supply chain management and will fully protect the integrity and accuracy of critical business data. The order entry process is very simple meaning suppliers and vendors can spend their valuable time on tasks other than ordering apparel labelling and accessories.

See the advert this page for details.

PAGE 32 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Burlington Uniforms Burlington Uniforms are proud to provide healthcare uniforms to a variety of Healthcare professionals.

With our friendly, dedicated Team always ready to help, their combined wealth of knowledge within the Healthcare sector covers everything from your first enquiry right through to managing your account after despatch and beyond.

Supplying high quality garments to our customers is our passion, in an array of colours and sizes, our extensive healthacre ranges can provide everything you need, making us your one stop shop. We can also take care of personalisation through our talented embroidery team, giving you a final look you'll be proud of.

We can cater to the public and private healthcare sectors, so our collection of healthcare uniforms has been expertly designed with all medical settings in mind. Offering comfortable scrubs, dresses, tunics and coordinated trousers, our medical workwear is suited to every area of your industry.

Designed for comfort and flexability, these garments ensure staff enjoy ease of movement and are unrestricted throughout their shifts.

Besides our extensive stock service, our experience in manurfacturing and our wealth of textile expertise allows us to also provide end to end bespoke solutions for our customers, contact us for more details about working with us on bespoke requirements.

Call 08707 300 150 Sales@burlington-uniforms.co.uk www.burlington-uniforms.co.uk See the advert on page 11.

Yeoman Shield Fire Rated Door Edge Protector When specifying for a structure, it’s important to be aware of the level of wear and tear a door can be exposed to in a public building.

Door edges, in particular, can be easily damaged or worn down by regular use – which can then render them non-compliant for fire safety regulations. To ensure that a project remains compliant, an architect can specify durable door edge protectors to add durability and longevity to doors.

Not only will specifying edge protectors increase the longevity of doors, they will enhance the cost efficiency of a project by reducing maintenance demands and the possibility of having to replace unsafe fire doors.

Yeoman Shield fire rated Door Edge Protectors are unique with a 2.0 mm Vinylac outer and a specially formulated 9mm PVCu reinforced core. They are FD30 (1/2 hour) and FD60 (1 hour) rated

with intumescent seals that are in accordance to the fire door’s specification. Fire rated Door Edge Protectors are suitable for commercial applications such as residential blocks, schools and hospitals etc.

Door Edge Protectors can also be specified with different fire seals, from a plain intumescent fire seal to a brush, fire and smoke variant.

Of course, for doors that are non-fire rated in an architect’s project Yeoman Shield also provide quality edge protectors without seals to enhance durability and reduce wear.

Source a full range of door protection panels and kick plates from a single supplier by choosing Yeoman Shield. Our door protection panels and kick plates offer the same lasting durability and quality as our door edge protectors.

Visit www.yeomanshield.com for details.

Mendabath UK uses high quality bath resurfacing and bathroom repair products that are trusted all over the world. Aligned with our expertise, we offer a service that is simply unparalleled in the UK. Our experienced team is comprised of experts that will deliver a service that will exceed your expectations. From minor cosmetic repairs to bringing an old bath back to life, we can restore any suite. We offer resurfacing and repair services for baths, sinks and showers for care homes, private residences and commercial properties across the UK. Commercial bath repairs and resurfacing Discoloured and damaged baths can be resurfaced with a turnaround time of just twenty four hours, keeping lost occupancy days to a minimum.

This is more environmentally friendly than replacing your bath and will save you both time and money.

Slip resistant application We apply slip resistance the day

after the bath or shower tray resurfacing. This works well in busy hotels, where there is a strong duty of care to customers yet time is of the essence. For this process the room will be out of commission for a further twenty four hours while the surface cures and hardens.

Basin repairs and resurfacing We can repair and resurface cracked, stained and chipped basins, making them look new again.

Cosmetic bath and basin repairs Sanitary ware with minor chips and scratches can be cosmetically repaired. Our technicians fade-in each repair so that they are almost invisible to the naked eye.

Shower repairs and shower tray resurfacing We can fully restore any stained and cracked shower tray, giving it a fresh, new look.

See the advert on page 9 or visit www.mendabath.co.uk

CareZips Dignity Trousers Bath Resurfacing and Chip Repair ™

CareZips™ preserve dignity and privacy of people receiving care during diaper changes.

CareZips™ make diaper changes easier and faster, reducing workload, saving efforts, and saving time!

CareZips™ help to deliver better standards of care!

Fitted with unique 3-zip fastening system, the CareZips™ make changing of incontinence diapers more dignified and comfortable for the patients and easier and faster for the carers.

CareZips™ feature 3 strategically positioned zips, 2 of which run from the waist to the knees on both sides of the body. The 3rd zip goes from the inside of one knee up to the crotch and down to the second knee on the inside of the other leg. This zip facilitates total opening of the trousers at the crotch during diaper changes. The 3-zip system ensures fast and easy access to the abdomen and crotch without having to undress the patients or pull their trousers down.

CareZips™ are suitable for men and women. They

are available in 7 sizes for perfect fit. CareZips™ are soft and wrinkle resistant with stretch and give for extra comfort. Practical, durable, washable and noniron, the CareZips™ trousers are the perfect choice for daily use.

Contact Win Health Medical Ltd - 01835 864866 www.win-health.com

Spotta’s Early Warning System Prevents Bed Bug Infestations Smart pest monitoring system marks one year of real-world operations, detecting bed bugs in 94.2% of cases

In its first year of operation, Spotta’s monitoring and detection system identified bed bugs in 94.2% of cases, significantly reducing the number of encounters between bed bugs and residents in multi-room properties.

The ‘always-on’ monitoring service uses advanced recognition technology to identify insects and provide real time alerts. Spotta enables multi-room properties such as sheltered and residential housing accommodation and their pest control partners to identify occurrences of bed bugs and treat the problem early, limiting the damage caused and spread of the pests.

In its first year of real-world deployment in customer properties Spotta serviced over 91,000 room nights. Of

the detections made by Spotta, over half (52.2%) were in rooms with no recent history of bed bugs, proving the system’s effectiveness as an early warning against new infestations. Repeat detections in rooms help property managers assess whether extermination treatments are successful or if further, more extensive treatment is needed.

“For accommodation providers, most of the overall financial impact of bed bugs comes from contact between the occupant and pests, which leads to complaints, disruption and high treatment costs,” says Robert Fryers, co-founder and CEO of Spotta.

During the Bed Pod’s first year, 94.2% of cases were successfully detected by Spotta, with room residents reporting bed bugs accounting for just 3.3% of cases and staff identifying the remaining 2.5%.

Fryers continues: “The first year results of Bed Pod show we have a credible, proven solution with realworld efficacy. This represents a transformative step for pest controllers, accommodation providers and property managers by allowing them to proactively monitor for bed bugs, rather than just reacting when problems are reported.”

Find out more at www.spotta.co See the advert on page 15.

Jolly Trolley Brings Therapeutic Activity and Entertainment to Patients That Are Isolating The Jolly Trolley® is an essential for any care establishment as it promotes social interaction between the service users and their carers. This innovative system is fully mobile and battery operated, allowing residents who may be unable to leave their rooms to also be included with ease.

The Jolly Trolley® comes complete with its own videos, quizzes, karaoke and other content, but personal music, photos and films can then be added from a USB stick to really bring out the magic!

Don’t just take our word for it here are just some testimonials from our very happy Health and Social Care clients:

Chester Park- Megan Allan, Activities “The fact that we can upload what is relevant to the specific Individual is so meaningful for that person and I can assure you we have shed some tears being able to be part of that residents memory journey. It has been an amazing addition to our care home – from staff and residents – thank you.”

Pennine NHS Trust - Beech Ward“we have been able to provide therapeutic activity & entertainment with ease to patients that are isolating” To see what the Jolly Trolley® can do for you, call us for a free demonstration on 0800 093 8499.

See the advert on page 6.

Adaptawear Iona Nightie: Full Opening-Back Nightie Ideal for those bed-ridden, struggling with mobility or needing palliative end of life care - the Iona nightie from adaptawear.com has been specifically designed with these people in mind.

This unique product comes with a fully opening back, shoulder openings on both sides, and easy poppers, which fasten quickly with limited effort. As the nightgown opens up completely flat, it can be put on from a lying or seated position, ensuring less stress for both the wearer and carer. The open back function with a generous overlap also ensures dignity when toileting and a quick drying cotton fabric is

comfortable and practical.

As well as the Iona adapted nightie, Adaptawear have a range of other back opening nighties, including their popular Petal Back range, and also fully front button nightwear. Their men and women's ranges feature a full range of adaptive daywear, including front fastening bras and comfortable cotton underwear; with a customer recently sharing they had ‘regained their independence with such helpful items.’

All items can be found at www.adaptawear.com or call 0800 051 1931 for more info. Don’t forget to use code CR10M at checkout for 10% off your order.

Evaness 100% Biodegradable Consumables Range EVANESS is the only full range of biodegradable products for the care and health sector, from various sizes and strengths of bin liners, to clingfilm and food/freezer bags. EVANESS is a derivative from the word ‘Evanesce” meaning to vanish and the technology used in the biodegradable range is scientifically proven to degrade the material if it gets into the open environment and then facilitate the secondary process of biodegradation, without causing micro-plastics.

New recent additions to the product range include compostable bin liners which are manufactured to EN13432 certification for home and industrial composting, and the UK’s first ANTI-VIRAL Grip Seal bag, which although are non-biodegradable are specifically designed to combat the transmission of viruses and bacteria.

The pandemic brought about many concerns over how to store and handle a range of items, which were handled by many a person to avoid the transfer of viruses

and bacteria. Consumable Supplies created a Grip Seal bag which incorporates an advanced British technology D2P by Symphony Environmental, which provides protection to the surface of the Grip Seal bag against microorganisms or viruses for the lifetime of the bag and offers a 99.9% Anti-Viral reduction after 1 hour of contact.

Although the bag can be used for the storage and handling of any items you wish to protect, such as medicines, PPE equipment, laboratory samples, cash, keys etc, as the product is Food-Safe, it also offers its use to storing food. The initial bag size offered is 150mm x 200mm, so useful for smaller items and can form part of your existing health and hygiene protection routine.

Consumable Supplies strives to offer unique quality environmentally friendlier products at reasonable prices with a great no-quibble customer service. Free delivery on any order.

See the advert on page 21 or visit www.consumablesupplies.co.uk

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 33

NURSE CALL AND FALLS PREVENTION

A Digital Future of Care in a Post COVID-19 Era The New Year brings good news and light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel with the roll out of vaccination programs, despite this the UK has been forced into stricter lockdown regulations. Health and care sectors are acutely aware of their responsibilities and the importance to look after technology that is fundamental to caring for the vulnerable and their carers.

Should systems fail, technology suppliers should provide help and assistance remotely with telephone support and using remote diagnostic tools. At Courtney Thorne we find that most issues are resolved over the phone, where this proves difficult and further checks or reconfiguration is necessary this is done by remotely accessing systems and running diagnostics. 95% of the service inquiries we receive are resolved this way reducing the need to physically attend the site.

Inquiries that cannot be rectified remotely will require an engineer to visit. To ensure the safety of residents, staff and the engineers themselves, service providers need to adopt stringent policies with rigorous clarification processes concluding with written

The New MPCSA11 from Medpage Medpage is a family ran company, with a huge heart and resources gathered over our 35- year trading history. The majority of the technologies we design, manufacture and distribute originate from enquiries received from healthcare professionals and personal family care observations. Our product portfolio provides a wide variety of care solutions for epilepsy, dementia, senior care, special needs and sensory loss.

Our latest innovation, currently in use in

several Hospitals, presents an effective fall monitoring, detection and reporting solution.

The MPCSA11 is a complex software driven sensor monitor made to be user and operator friendly. This device has already proven successful in hospital and care home trials by reducing patient falls while also reducing false positives from a safe patient. The device can monitor and interact with up to three sensor products: bed and chair occupancy pressure pads, PIR movement detection sensors and proximity signal products.

In use, a patient or resident rising from their bed would be considered a falls risk, but what if they are simply moving to sit in a chair close to their bed? A standard bed monitor would raise an alarm alerting care staff, who would arrive to find the person safely seated. The MPCSA11 would only generate an alarm if the person was out of their bed or chair for a selectable time duration. Learn more www.easylinkuk.co.uk/mpcsa11 Or see the advert on page 17.

confirmation that there is no COVID-19 on site or where there is, that those suffering are suitably isolated. In the case of Courtney Thorne our process includes asking authorised care home management to fill out a questionnaire prior to our engineer turning up.

We also insist that our staff are regularly checked, including logging daily body temperature. Finally equipping field staff with necessary PPE, making sure it is always used and includes a hand washing regime before, during and after any site visit. Courtney Thorne provides our field-based engineering staff with overalls, gloves, face masks and plenty of hand sanitiser.

By diligently observing these protocols, and despite our staff visiting care homes and hospitals on a daily basis throughout the pandemic, not one of them has developed any COVID-19 symptoms at any time.

For further information visit www.nursecallsystems.co.uk or see the advert on this page.

Andy Bridgewater Expands Alarm Radio Monitoring's Team

Market Leading manufacturer of wireless nurse call and staff alarm systems, Alarm Radio Monitoring Ltd (ARM), has announced the appointment of Andy Bridgewater as its new Head of Sales & Marketing.

Former Royal Engineer with Her Majesty’s forces, Andy joined the business in late April, having over 15 years experience within the sales and engineering industry.

Andy’s appointment to the senior management team comes at an exciting time for ARM with numerous new products and systems being launched throughout the year, none more so than the Bed Angel, an innovative wireless bed occupancy monitor.

Stuart Ibbs, Operations Director for ARM, said: “We are delighted to welcome Andy to lead our sales team during what is an exciting period of growth for the business. With numerous new products entering the market over the coming year, his appointment is a big part of the company’s commitment to provide high quality products to the care and staff alarm industry” “Andy’s drive and passion for team management will strengthen our sales division, he will be crucial in mentoring our sales team to roll out the new products we are due to roll out” Andy’s role as head of Sales & Marketing will see him lead sales growth for ARM as their product range continues to expand throughout the UK. The Bed Angel, new monitoring software and 7’ touchpad display are either currently available or due to enter the market shortly.

Andy commented: “I am delighted to join ARM at such an exciting time as it continues to grow throughout the UK and innovate within the Health Care industry.

He continued : Alarm Radio Monitoring’s focus on people development and working as a team is something I firmly believe in, and I am looking forward to working with the sales team to exceed targets whilst continuing to deliver the outstanding customer service that ARM is renowned for” See the advert on page 31.

www.nursecallsystems.co.uk

PAGE 34 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

NURSE CALL AND FALLS PREVENTION

NURSE CALL

IT’S NOT OBSOLETE UNTIL THE OPERA LADY SINGS

EDISON TELECOM LTD (IN BUSINESS SINCE 1984)

have spares, enhancements and expertise for wired and wireless systems abandoned by the original manufacturer, whoever they are.

Call us on 01252-330220 We can give most systems a new lease of life and maintain them into the future.

www.edisontelecom.co.uk Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

Nurse Call from Edison Telecom We here at Edison Telecom Ltd have been providing specialist solutions to your call system requirements tailor-made to each customers needs for over 25 years, says director Bob Johnson.

Is your current Nurse Call “legacy”, obsolete, so full of software bugs or commercially not viable for your current supplier/maintainer to maintain?

We may have just the part and

expertise that you are looking for to give your nurse call a further extension to life, adds Bob, “Edison will treat your nurse call with the same compassion that you give to those in your care. There will come a time when your equipment is beyond repair but Edison are experts in extending the life of obsolete systems.” www.edisontelecom.co.uk

Fall Savers - Affordable Fall Monitoring Solutions Fall Savers®, are an experienced market leading healthcare provider of resident safety solutions for over 15 years.

FALL SAVERS ® WIRELESS MONITOR Eliminate all cables with our new generation falls management solutions!

Upgrade your falls programme with the latest technology from Fall Savers®. The NEW Fall Savers® Wireless eliminates the cord between the monitor and sensor pad. This results in less work for nursing staff, improved safety for patients and reduced wear and tear on sensor pads. Wireless advantages include the ability to use one monitor with two sensor pads simultaneously and support for many new wireless devices.

Benefits include: Safer for patients; less work for staff Bed and chair pads available One monitor works with two sensor pads Integrates with most nurse call systems A variety of options, including: Call button Pager

Floor sensor mat Wireless door/window exit alerts

TREADNOUGHT ®FLOOR SENSOR PAD The TreadNought® Floor Sensor Pad is built to last with a durable construction that far out lasts the competition. Our antibacterial floor sensor pad is compatible with most nurse call systems or can be used with a portable pager to sound an alert when a person steps on to the sensor pad. Caregivers typically place the sensor pad at the bedside, in a doorway or other locations to monitor persons at risk for falls or wandering. An optional anti-slip mesh reduces the potential for slippage on hard surface floors.

Features include: Connects directly to most nurse call systems High Quality anti-bacterial Floor Sensor Pad Large Size Pad: Measures (L) 91cm x (H) 61cm Options (sold separately): Anti-slip mesh for hard surface floors See the advert on this page for further details.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 35

NURSE CALL AND FALLS PREVENTION Make Your Nursecall Data Work For You and Your Residents Using your ‘Call Bell’ data can help improve the care you provide and even aid in getting an “outstanding” CQC rating. Yet, quite often this data is only used to help investigate an incident and ignored for the rest of the time. A lot of care homes still rely on a printer to record event logs making data analysis time consuming and difficult.

KAM Systems Limited have launched their Kloud Care Home data logging service. Kloud can be connected to any existing nursecall system using a Kloud shuttle that has a printer or paging interface.

All events are logged by the Shuttle & synchronised with the Kloud on any internet enabled device. The service then analyses the data into an easy to understand report which can even be automatically emailed to a home manager’s inbox.

The data can include KPI’s such as Average Response Time, Top Five Rooms that ‘call’ the most, Busiest Hours In The Day, No. of Night Checks and much more.

Longer response times during certain hours may indicate that not enough staff are on duty. The data can also show that a resident has started to ‘call’ for help much more than usual and this can be investigated and appropriate measures put in place.

Users can login from any connected device to access the Kloud and create custom reports or investigate a specific incident if required. Care Group administrators have a dashboard of all their care homes in one place making it simple to manage.

Harpal Momi - Managing Director says “When we asked our customers about Nursecall Data logging most of them said that it was too difficult to analyse or they didn’t have the time. We developed Kloud to help them deliver better care based on the data analysis.

The ease in which it can be implemented and the simple subscription model makes it suitable for anyone”.

Contact 0330 321 1040, info@kamsystems.co.uk or visit www.kamsystems.co.uk

Alarm Radio Monitoring Alarm Radio Monitoring (A.R.M) is a UK based manufacturer of wireless Nurse Call and Staff Alarm systems; offering a comprehensive range of Nurse Call, Staff Alarm, Fire Alarm, and Door Access bespoke systems. With over 30 years experience in the design & development of wireless Nurse Call & Staff Alarm systems, A.R.M has established itself as a key player within the wireless solutions market to the public and private healthcare sectors.

Wireless solutions are ideal for environments which do not lend themselves to running cables, for example listed buildings or busy environments. Wireless systems can be fitted while your home remains operational, so you do not have to close rooms off and they offer greater flexibility and ease for future expansion.

Care Homes choose A.R.M nurse call systems because they: • Are quick and simple to install.

• Make it easier for staff to identify the source of calls

because they give full text descriptions.

• Give management the tools they need to monitor and control best practice. The system provides a full audit trail of which buttons are pressed and response times.

• Failsafe eg alerts you in the event of a system fault or batteries are running low.

• Carry a year’s guarantee.

• Are supported 24/7, 365 days a year by specialist engineers over the telephone or online.

No matter how demanding your environment, A.R.M believes everyone – whether you’re a customer in a care home or team member – should be within safe reach.

Whether you need a combination of a Nurse Call, Staff Alarm, Fire Alarm, Door Access system, we have a team to help design a package that will meet your requirements.

For further details call 01568 610 016 or email sales@arm.uk.com

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 37

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE Reliant Care Solutions Ltd WHY SHOULD CARE HOMES MOVE FROM PAPER TO ELECTRONIC TIME SHEETS

The industry is under considerable financial pressures. An efficient electronic booking on/off system that will schedule, provide budgets, calculate hours worked, overtime and absence such as sickness and holiday entitlement will save Time and Money.

HOW IS TIME AND MONEY SAVED BY DOING THINGS ELECTRONICALLY?

Collecting payroll information from paper timesheets can be slow, prone to errors, and very labour intensive.

Staff rosters can be produced as far in advance as practical and accurate within budgeted hours. Staff book on and off-duty electronically, thus eliminating any time errors.

Wage queries are virtually eliminated and immediate checks can be made without wading through reams of paper which invariably are inaccurate, misfiled or even 'lost".

THERE ARE MANY SYSTEMS ON THE MARKET WHY FACIAL RECOGNITION IS IMPORTANT AND HOW IT WORKS

Some systems use tokens, which can be lost or left at home, requiring management involvement in the booking on/off procedure. Fingerprint systems can be beaten and Social media is awash with ways to copy fingerprints. Face recognition combined with a staff PIN is simple to use and manage using touch screen technology and web cams. Staff see their image displayed immediately when booking on or off and confirms their identity visually. It provides the best deterrent available as it builds a greater 'image knowledge’ of each employee, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Eliminates 'buddy punching' where employees can book colleagues on/off duty using someone’s tokens, swipe card or even fingerprint.

HOW IS DATA PROTECTED? With the correct security setup computer systems provide more data protection than paper-based records which can be easily removed or stolen. GDPR covers all data including paper records and therefore the chances of infringing the rules and incurring fines is greater with paper.

For further information visit www.rcscare.net or call 03333 444 562.

WristPIT from Pinpoint The WristPIT from Pinpoint,is a bespoke patient call transmitter designed to be worn on the wrist.

This wrist-worn personal infrared transmitter (WristPIT) is easily accessible and allows patients to activate a call for even if they are away from their bed or a fixed call-point.

Pinpoint’s renowned PIT technology (usually worn by staff for personal safety) has, for the first time, been designed around patient use. The WristPIT can withstand showering and brief submersion in water and also incorporates antimicrobial product protection, reducing the ability for bacteria to grow.

According to figures published by the National Reporting and Learning System, around 250,000 incidents where patients required assistance in hospital were reported in 2015/16. In many cases, nursing staff remained unaware that a patient had had a fall for quite some time.

Pressing the clearly labelled call button on the WristPIT notifies the personnel on duty that a patient is requesting help and informs staff exactly where the patient is. The call button is recessed and surrounded by a bump guard to prevent false alarms.

Pinpoint Alarm Systems are installed in thousands of medical facilities throughout the UK and USA. The new WristPIT is backward compatible and easily integrated into existing Pinpoint Systems.

A green LED indicates the WristPIT is ‘activated’ with good battery level. When the battery requires changing, the LED flashes red until the battery is changed and the device has been retested.

In addition to being water-resistant, the WristPIT has been designed to withstand harsh environments and user tampering, meaning suitability for facilities where service users may be at risk of self-harm.

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

PINPOINT WRISTPIT The WristPIT is a wrist worn Personal Infrared Transmitter designed exclusively for patient use.

The latest call button is recessed and surrounded by a bump guard to prevent false alarms. It is also backward compatible, allowing seamless integration into existing Pinpoint Systems.

DID YOU KNOW? Biomaster Technology is incorporated into all surface areas of the product during manufacture, inhibiting the growth of contaminating bacteria 24/7 for the lifetime of the product.

www.pinpointlimited.com

PAGE 38 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE Care South Invests In Ground-Breaking Care Planning Technology A not-for-profit charity in the South of England is the latest UK care provider to invest in ground-breaking technology proven to boost operational efficiency, reduce errors and dramatically improve care delivery.

Care South, which provides residential, nursing and dementia care to residents across its 16 care homes, also help people to live independently in their own homes.

Working with service users and their families, Care South tailors personal solutions in which all parties can feel secure and confident, with the dignity of those needing care central to the charity’s goals. To ensure that the highest levels of care are maintained, Care South’s care home portfolio benefits from ongoing investment and in-depth training programmes all year round.

Care South’s latest investment will see staff go paperless, using Person Centred Software’s award-winning Mobile Care Monitoring to evidence and monitor care interactions in real-time, in a move that will also save each carer up to 3 days per month on paperwork.

The gradual rollout will see Care South’s Sussexdown care home receive the software first, with the wider plan being to onboard up to two locations per month until all services are fully equipped with the software.

Using Person Centred Software, Care South will be able to make the

most of its unrivalled ecosystem of partners, which includes electronic medication management.

Discussing their reasons for adopting Mobile Care Monitoring, Aaron Whitehead, Director of Residential Care at Care South, said: “We first heard about Person Centred Software through word of mouth and, upon doing our research, it seemed the perfect solution for us. Being fully mobile and icon-driven, the software is incredibly easy to use and saves our carers time that had previously been spent completing paperwork.

“We’re delighted with the benefits that the software has delivered people living and working within our homes so far. We look forward to working directly with Person Centred Software as we complete the software roll out over the coming months,” Aaron concluded.

Having launched in Australia in 2018, Ireland in 2019 and the Netherlands in 2021, Person Centred Software’s innovative technology is improving systems used in social care globally and has won numerous prestigious industry accolades. In 2020, Person Centred Software was placed on the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and top 10 SME in Digital Leaders 100, and the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 list in 2019. Furthermore, its new coronavirus-specific features were recognised at the Health Tech Digital Awards 2020 for Best COVID-19 Software Solution.

For more information about the benefits of moving to a digital care management system, please visit www.personcentredsoftware.com

First Installation of Game Changing Software for the Care Industry Installed at Nyton House in Chichester The first intelligent tech system that helps both carers and residents has been launched to market by Arquella and successfully installed at cutting edge care home Nyton House in Chichester.

Sheffield based Arquella was founded in 2019 –and provides innovative digital solutions for the care industry allowing the focus to be on the care of residents.

Combining modern nurse call equipment with advanced software they have created a higher quality of care and improved reporting system to help raise CQC ratings.

Paul Howell and Reuben Timoney are the very passionate and entrepreneurial drivers behind the care home gamechanger that is Arquella. CEO and COO respectively, they met by chance in 2018, changing their futures and the future of care home tech.

So, what is the digital system?

AIDA Assist is an advance nurse call system, a digital care reporter and a whole lot more!

The new system is a link between call-logging and care plan software with the most comprehensive automated compliance reporting available.

Most nurse call manufacturers use pagers to alert carers to a call on their system. Arquella’s wireless nurse call systems integrate with smartphones without the need for extra equipment to be installed. This allows carers to be alerted to call location instantly. So long pagers!

On top of that it can be used to provide evidence for care cost adjustments and supply in-depth specific and overall care analysis during an investigation. In conjunction with good quality home management, it provides unambiguous compliance data that shows the care home is doing

The Carer Digital Now Available Weekly thecareruk.com/backissues

more than just meeting the regulatory requirements.

Paul Howell, CEO of Arquella says: ‘It is not enough to be exceptional at looking after the needs of vulnerable people anymore. Alongside the hands-on care, you need to keep detailed care plans, compliance reports, in-depth care analysis, day by day monitoring of care delivery, accident and incident trend analysis, KPI monitoring against performance standards and so much more. The job of recording care is now so complex that some care facilities employ full-time compliance officers, a luxury that many other care homes don’t have. Our goal is to build a fully integrated digital world of care that helps the care homes take control.’

Arquella believes that their system will also help care homes with their CQC ratings which are often rated lower because of the recording of care, rather than actual performance.

Howell says: ‘To achieve a rating of ‘good’ or higher is not a matter of simply meeting the standards of the regulator. We all know how a classification of ‘Inadequate’ or ‘Requires Improvement’ can damage a facility’s reputation and income. It gives potential clients the perception that the level of care being provided is somehow substandard. However, the reality is that more often than not, it is the recording of care that has broken down.’

Along with care plan information, AIDA Assist provides global information for the care home. Average response times for each shift pattern, average staff attendance times and frequency and time of emergency calls. The data can be easily mined quickly for patterns and trends and key point indicators can also be entered into the system.

Harvey Hillary is a second-generation care home owner and owns Nyton House in Chichester, the first care home to have the system installed. After a successful career as Head of High Performance & Innovation for the British Sailing Team he came back to work with the family business and is a huge advocate of the Arquella system.

‘The vision at Nyton was to provide a ‘home-like’ experience by encouraging a ‘freedom to roam’ and for residents to spend less time isolated in their rooms and more time in communal areas. Arquella enables us to provide location-based calling from unique user pendants.

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‘Removing the clinical feel was one step but removing the triggers of challenging behaviour was a key focus. Our Coach House unit has been designed around people with Dementia and removing Nurse Call Alarms was a massive win. Arquella allows us to notify staff of a ‘Call’ using a mobile device and for a staff member to accept the call and then cancel the call once they have attended to the resident.

‘A huge frustration for me as a care provider was the inability for Nurse Call systems to inform care planning. Most systems can provide a list report of time and frequency of calls and the response time from staff.

From my perspective, this is a very limited data set that is missing the most obvious opportunity for the carer to log the ‘reason for call’.

Working with Arquella we are developing a carer input screen that will code all alarms and enable us to identify trends and inform care plans.

This will be followed by a Task scheduling functionality for prompting medication, pressure areas care, night checks and fluids. Using API exports, we hope to streamline the point of care records keeping that is recorded in or Electronic Care Planning system.

‘As a care home, ultimately, we all want to achieve an outstanding rating from the CQC, but it’s often the accuracy of recording the data that lets us down. This takes time, is labour intensive or has us juggling platforms when we have more important things to do! That is all solved with the Arquella system and we’re thrilled to have it in Nyton.’

The modern call units can be wall mounted or portable for maximum freedom and have been designed with practicality and user-friendliness in mind.

Key benefits include…

Call alert to mobile Nurse Call Panel Fall sensor Nurse call reporting dashboard Reports, CQC and Call logs For more info. see the advert on page 13 or visit the Arquella website: www.Arquella.co.uk Or call: 0333 242 7505

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See the advert on page 32 for details.

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THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 41

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE StackCare UK Expands Offering with Launch Of Two New Client-Monitoring Systems – One for Care Homes CARE VISION and One for Home Care Professionals

StackCare UK, the market leading homemonitoring system provider, has expanded its product range with two new systems for the professional care industry - StackCare Pro and StackCare for Carers. Building on the original StackCare @home system that was launched earlier this year, the new systems provide care home managers and professional carers with up to the minute details on their clients’ wellbeing and activity levels, offering unrivalled extra levels of detail and resource to care packages.

Managers and agencies can monitor their clients both centrally, in their office using an online dashboard, and/or through an app on carers’ mobile phones. The systems allow staff to view the status of multiple clients, and, as with StackCare @home, managers and carers can monitor activity levels and data including the number of bathroom visits the client makes, room temperatures and sleep patterns, with alerts sent if a client’s behaviour patterns change.

Door sensors and help buttons are also available as optional add-ons to both systems for clients who would benefit from extra monitoring and /or a direct communication link to their care team.

FLEXIBLE, COMPREHENSIVE CARE SOLUTION

Care Control Systems Care Control Systems Ltd is proud to create the UK's best Care Management Software designed for use within all standard, niche and complex care settings. Care Control has been in constant development since 2010 and was made commercially available in 2016. Since then we have expanded across hundreds of providers within the UK and are well recognised as leaders in our field.

Care Control is used by over 15,000 care professionals daily across the UK in multiple service types ensuring their services have live, up-to-date essential information. Located in Tavistock, Devon our expert team is comprised of numerous industry specialists with many years of direct, hands-on care experience.

This is one of our key USP’s.

Our Managing Director, Matt Luckham started the creation of the original Care Control Software in 2010

Developed in Silicon Valley, and using enhanced AI and machinebased learning, both the StackCare for Carers and StackCare Pro systems use discreet wireless smart motion sensors placed in key locations around the client’s home, or care home room. There are no cameras or microphones, thereby ensuring privacy for clients. A central hub gathers the data from the sensors which is analysed and reported back to the carer / agency. The data is anonymised and held in line with GDPR rules.

The founder of StackCare UK, Noel Verbruggen, commented, “These StackCare systems give care providers an unrivalled resource that brilliantly compliments existing care packages. The cutting edge technology means carers can know that their clients or residents are OK even when they can’t physically be with them.

“We all know that carers often can’t be with their clients for as long as they would like to be, and for busy carers and care homes time pressures are a real issue. It’s here that our smart tech comes into its own. Having instant access to StackCare’s data essentially gives carers an extra pair of hands and gives reassurance to carers, clients and clients’ families”.

StackCare is offering agencies the option to partner with them to promote the use of the system to clients as an addition to the agency’s care package offering.

To learn more about StackCare UK’s solutions visit www.stackcare.co.uk with the aim to provide essential, accurate information for Spring House Care House in Devon. Matt had purchased Spring House in 2010. Matt developed the software and then spent 6 years proving its functionality within Spring House. It soon became apparent the software could add real value to other service providers and after numerous requests we decided to commercialise the software.

In 2016 Care Control Systems Ltd was founded and since then has gone from strength-to-strength with exponential growth.

We now have an exceptional team of more than 20 staff who have over 70 years of direct hands-on care experience between them. On top of this our team of Software Developers are experts in their field and are constantly developing our products to ensure they offer everything our customers expect in what is a particularly complex sector.

2020 has been a record year for Care Control with record numbers of customers choosing us, office expansion, overseas sales and an ever growing team to name just a few things. We are so excited for the future!

Visit www.carecontrolsystems.co.uk

At Care Vision we believe care may never be the same again. Outstanding care truly is at the heart of everything we do, with a clear purpose of Less Admin, More Care.

Growing up and working in a family owned care home, Rishi Jawaheer saw at first hand the main needs in the care sector; to cut down on the burden of manual paperwork while maintaining good practice and to encourage people to become more involved in care.

Using his experience as a registered manager, with some of the smartest minds in tech, Rishi was driven to create Care Vision, an all in one cloudbased care management, system incorporating all your care and admin into one easy to use system.

Presently the care industry has our work cut out to keep in line with statutory and legislative compliance in addition to the essential everyday tasks of looking after our clients.

Care Vision acts as a bridge which uses technology that organises care work, ensures a safer, better and more intimate experience for every member of the community, from administration, the carer to family, friends and the people we care for.

Care Vision provides An easy to use system for carers, managers, relatives; bringing care and admin into one platform; to manage time, attendance, rota, HR, housekeeping, maintenance and much more An E-mar system, fully compliant with NICE, reducing medication errors and keeping people safe An intuative daily notes section that can be completed at the point of service quickly and accurately A pictorial food order system that allows the individual to choose from a menu even if they forgot what a meal looks like Daily reminders in the form of care routines which reminds staff of key aspects of care for the individual

Care Plans / Risk assessments/ Life stories which allows you to customise care plans to specifically suit the person’s needs. Reminding all about one’s history and who Is important in one’s life A family app that allows families to keep track of their loved one’s wellbeing through videos and pictures, which has been essential during the pandemic.

Care Vision gives you the freedom to access it using mobile, tablet, laptop, or pc in real time whilst safely securing and storing data. within the platform.

Built flexibly to adapt to services of any size, large or small, Care Vision’s structured, interactive features engage carers in sharing information with the end-user and their family.

Registered manager and director of Summerhayes Care says “The carers have taken to Care Vision like a duck to water and the information that we are gathering is streets ahead of the previous system we used we are very impressed. They make it easy to understand and nothing is any trouble.

I highly recommend taking a look at this system if you are wanting to meet your quality standards and CQC requirements”.

Nationally our data has shown that working with homes Care Vision can save 2-4 hours every week per carer by reducing tasks that could be better spent with the people we care for.

As both carers and developers, we are unique in our focus on developing software that benefits the care sector.

This allows us to continually develop and update software for our clients.

The Care Vision team would love to talk to you about what the system can do for you, come and join us, we believe the future of Social care is in good hands with “Care vision” Contact us at info@care-vision.co.uk or call 0208 768 9809

PAGE 42 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54

RECRUITMENT & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Five Employment Law Changes Care Providers Should Be Aware Of Last month saw the introduction of a raft of new changes to employment law, including some crucial details that Care Providers should keep in mind when it comes to minimum wages and contracting.

Alison Gill, HR Manager at advo outlines the employment law changes which Care Providers need to be aware of:

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE The National Living Wage now applies to those aged 23 and over.

Previously this was for those aged 25 and over.

Workers aged 23 and over: From £8.72 an hour in 2020, increased to £8.91 an hour (National Living Wage) Workers aged 21-22: From £8.20 per hour in 2020, increased to £8.36 an hour Development rate for workers aged 18-20: From £6.45 an hour in 2020, increased to £6.56 an hour Young workers rate for workers aged 16-17: From £4.55 an hour in 2020, increased £4.62 an hour Apprentice rate: From £4.15 an hour in 2020, increased £4.30 an hour

FAMILY FRIENDLY STATUTORY RATES OF PAY Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) - First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% per cent of earnings if lower.

Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) - First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% per cent of earnings if lower.

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) – paid for two weeks. £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) - £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) - £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower

STATUTORY SICK PAY (SSP) The same weekly SSP rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off

work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ they work each week. The current rate is £95.85 per week since 6 April 2020 and is set to rise to £96.35 from 6 April 2021. The lower earnings limit in relation to eligibility to statutory payments is to stay the same at £120 per week.

ET COMPENSATION AWARDS AND RATES It has been confirmed that employment tribunal compensation rates are set to increase from 6 April 2021. As of this date, the maximum week’s pay for redundancy pay purposes will increase from £538 to £544. However, statutory guarantee pay will be staying at £30.

This is important for the purposes of tribunal claims because it means that the maximum statutory redundancy pay, as well as unfair dismissal basic award pay, will both now be £16,320. The unfair dismissal compensatory award, which is set to compensate the claimant for past and future lost attributed to the dismissal, is a maximum of 52 weeks’ pay, subject to a new maximum of £89,493.

The maximum amount of additional award for unfair dismissal, set to compensate claimants when employers fail to adhere to a tribunal instruction to re-engage them, taking into account average weekly earnings, will rise to £28,288.

FAMILY LEAVE The weekly rates of statutory family leave – eg Maternity/paternity leave, etc. – will increase by 77p per week on 4 April 2021, from £151.20 per week to £151.97 per week.

IR35 The IR35 legislation, which aims to ensure that contractors are paying the appropriate amount of tax, is also changing for some private sector businesses.

The majority of contractors are required to determine their own status as employee or contractor. From 6 April 2021, this liability will pass to medium and large-sector clients. Smaller clients will be exempt from this obligation and the contractor remains liable for determining their own tax status.

Lucy Pearce, Commercial Director of advo comments: “There are many changes for Care Providers to adjust to from April 2021 onwards and they should seek further advice if they are unsure on any aspects of the new employment legislation.

“To help employers understand each element of these new changes and to ensure full compliance with employment legislation, we have launched the UK’s first, fully integrated platform – advo-one - which enables employers to control their payroll, HR and employee benefits, through a single, secure login.

“Unlike many self-service employer portals, every advo-one client journey is fully supported by advo people. advonians are experts dedicated to providing advice and guidance across the range of services, every single step of the way.

“Care providers can access detailed reporting for HR and payroll, including contract reviews; easy-to-use online holiday and sickness reporting; and essential news and legislation updates. “advo-one also features BACs approved payroll software compliant with HMRC, RTI and auto enrolment. It helps employers to fully manage furlough claims submissions; calculates pension contributions and auto enrolment; gives employee access to online payslips through advo-one; and provides access to detailed payroll reporting. advo-one is supported by dedicated payroll experts on hand to provide support and guidance. “advo-one can be accessed anytime from anywhere and care providers can have their own portal, company branded, supported by access to advo experts. There is also a huge choice of benefits on offer, including employee perks, health insurance and wellbeing, which make managing staff simple, connected and effective.

“The advo platform is designed for the modern workplace - it’s a hire-to-retire people solution.”

“The advo platform is designed for the modern workplace - it’s a hireto-retire people solution.” advo-one is more than software as it features qualified advice built in, providing employers with support in areas that they need it. The platform also offers simplified access for employees – a single login to see HR docs, Payslips, P60’s, P11d’s, available benefits and staff discounts.

Designed to increase efficiency and employee engagement, advo-one provides the expert support and software needed to manage each service individually, or together.

Since 1997, advo has focused on quality of service and advice and has grown to be one of the UK’s largest independently owned advisory firms, providing all-encompassing services to support employers, throughout the employee lifecycle. With Payroll and HR added to the firm’s expertise, advo can now deliver all the essential employee support services. advo currently manages staff benefits and payroll for just under 1,500 employers and the health insurance needs of countless individuals. Over the years, advo has developed a reputation for cost control and customer service excellence, leading to the firm being recognised as the UK’s ‘best’ advisory firm by peers on numerous occasions.

For further information, please visit http://www.advogroup.co.uk or telephone 01622 769210.

Should Care Home Professionals Be Concerned About Criminal Liability In Respect Of Covid-19 Cases?

By Jonathan Grimes (Partner) and Sophie Wood (Senior Associate, Barrister) in the Criminal Litigation team at law firm Kingsley Napley LLP (www.kingsleynapley.co.uk)

In late February 2021 it was reported that a care home worker had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after a patient died of COVID-19. Then in March, two further care home workers were arrested on suspicion of wilful neglect following a COVID outbreak at a care home in Sidmouth, Devon.

Should those working in care homes be concerned about criminal liability in respect of COVID-19 cases and on what basis can care home workers be prosecuted for incidents involving COVID-19?

THE APPLICABLE LEGISLATION There are three separate offences which may be relevant to such a situation.

1) Under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

(“HSWA”) care home staff are required to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions. Failure to do so is an offence punishable up to two years’ imprisonment.

2) If a resident dies, in rare circumstances a care home worker may face prosecution for ‘gross negligence manslaughter’. This may arise where the death is considered to have resulted from a breach of the worker’s duty of care towards the deceased. The worker will only be liable if they breached that duty of care through a negligent act or omission; at the time of the breach there was a serious and obvious risk of death, which was reasonably foreseeable; and the negligence, which caused or significantly contributed towards the death, was so bad that it amounted to gross negligence and therefore requires criminal sanction.

3) Following the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry, new legislation was enacted making it an offence for care workers to ‘ill-treat or wilfully neglect’ an individual in their care (section 20 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015). ‘Wilful neglect’ means deliberately neglecting to do something which should be done in the treatment of a patient. It is no defence for a worker to argue that even if they had administered the treatment, it would have made no difference to the patient’s health. ‘Ill-treatment’ means deliberate conduct which can be described as ill-treatment (irrespective of whether it actually damaged, or threatened to damage the health of the patient). The worker needs to appreciate that they were illtreating the patient, or to have been reckless as to whether they were acting in that way. If found guilty, a person can be sentenced up to five years’ imprisonment.

ARE WE GOING TO SEE MORE ARRESTS OF CARE HOME WORKERS RELATING TO COVID-19?

Potentially yes. At the beginning of the pandemic the understanding of how COVID-19 was transmitted and what could be done to protect residents was limited. One year on however, there is a better, albeit not perfect, awareness of how staff can help safeguard against outbreaks and deaths. For example, if a care home worker recognises a number of now-known signs of COVID-19, and fails to call a doctor, they could be accused of wilful neglect. Equally if that worker, after recognising the symptoms, fails to isolate that patient, they could be accused of a section 7 HSWA offence.

Due to this improved understanding of the disease, it will increasingly be possible to measure behaviour against a common standard. It will be easier to establish what was reasonable for the care worker to be doing at the time and/or demonstrate a causal link between the acts or omissions of the worker and the illness/death.

The arrests so far indicate that law enforcement no longer sees COVID-19 as a novel disease about which the risks are not fully understood. They suggest there is a confidence about what standards care home staff should be meeting when managing COVID-19, and where those standards are thought not to have been met, allowing an assessment of where criminal liability comes into play. Therefore irrespective of whether these arrests lead to successful prosecutions, they indicate a change in approach by law enforcement and so care home staff and their employer organisations should expect more enforcement action in this area in the future.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 54 | PAGE 43

RECRUITMENT & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Supreme Court Rules Sleep-In Shift Workers Not Eligible For National Minimum Wage

By Hollie Watkins, Banner Jones Solicitors (www.bannerjones.co.uk) To the dismay of employees, but a decision arguably welcomed by employers, the Supreme Court has recently ruled in cases Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad and another (T/A Clifton House Residential Home) that sleep-in shift workers are not ‘working’ when they are asleep. This in turn means that care workers should only be paid the National Minimum Wage hourly rate on sleep-in shifts when they are awake for the purposes of actively working.

Here, Hollie Watkins of Banner Jones Solicitors, discusses the case and its implications in more detail.

The ruling brings to an end a strenuous four-year legal battle which centred around Mencap, a UK based charity working with people who have learning disabilities. The case threatened to leave care providers with a potential £400 million back-pay bill that would have potentially jeopardised the care of the most vulnerable people in the country.

The cases were brought by two care workers who were sleep-in workers. This means that as part of their shift, they were permitted to sleep either at work, or at a place near work, in case they were required to assist. Whilst working at night, the care workers were to be present in case of any emergencies and provide assistance when required.

In relation to the case of Tomlinson-Blake, The Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), found that she was working throughout the entirety of her shift regardless of the number of hours spent sleeping. Therefore, it was confirmed that each hour of her sleepin shift were to be included in the National Minimum Wage calculation when calculating her pay. However, in the Shannon case the Tribunal and the EAT dismissed the claim.

Further appeals in both proceedings were heard by the Court of Appeal, which held that neither was entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage for all the hours of their respective sleep-in shifts.

The Government now faces pressure to reform care laws following the Supreme Court ruling which has caused unrest and disappointment amongst care workers. Whilst Mencap is relieved not to have to pay the huge back payment that could have crippled the charity, Edel Harris, Chief Executive of the Royal Mencap Society, stands with employers who demand the Government ‘do a thorough and meaningful review of the social care workforce’.

Whilst the ruling has provided some sort of clarity for employers and

has mitigated the potential huge costs payable in relation to back payments, employees now face uncertainty as to their pay. In the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, this has added extra pressure to care workers across the UK. If you are an employer or an employee who would like guidance on sleep-in shift work, please contact the Banner Jones Employment Law team.

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Considering A Career In The Care Industry?

Here's What You Need To Know...

With a wealth of experience recruiting for this sector, Jon Mason, Recruitment Manager at Maria Mallaband Care Home Group fills us in on what you need to know when considering a role in the care home industry.

WHAT ROLES ARE ON OFFER IN THE CARE HOMES SECTOR? Whilst direct care is the key purpose of course, care homes are also mini communities where there really is something for everyone. There are plenty of creative, practical and management roles in the team too, with positions in catering, wellbeing and social activities, administration, housekeeping, management, maintenance, quality control, and even transport.

DO YOU NEED SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS? Whilst there are some roles that do need specific qualifications there are many that don't. In fact, in many cases getting hands on experience whilst studying can be a much more effective way to learn plus some employers actually value the opportunity to align your learning to their own methods and practices.

For example, Maria Mallaband currently has a number of Trainee Nurse Associates studying with universities across the UK alongside their current roles. Being able to earn and learn like this gives them the opportunity to become fully qualified nurses without having to worry about funding.

ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR SECTORS THAT ARE WELL SUITED TO A CAREER IN A CARE HOME? With the pressures of the ongoing pandemic on

certain industries, many are needing to look elsewhere for reliable employment. We've seen more applications for those who want to completely change their career path and are now looking to build a long-term future in the care sector. Many of our most recent hires have come from completely different sectors, including project management, children's activities, hotels, and even personal training.

Those within retail, customer service and hospitality have developed great interpersonal skills and are able to work as part of a team. In sectors that are struggling, people are now considering where those skills could be applied elsewhere, and care homes have a lot to offer.

WHICH ARE THE RELEVANT SKILLS THAT YOU WOULD LOOK FOR? One of the most important skills you can bring to this field is passion! After all, it might be your place of work, but it is home for those who live there. It’s also important that people who choose this career are confident communicators and empathetic, whether they engage directly with those living there or not.

Those within retail, customer service and hospitality often cultivate great communication skills and have learnt to work well as part of a team.

As well as customer facing roles I have already mentioned, there are plenty of other roles that could provide relevant skills. Experience in the food industry could lead to a career in the catering team, or perhaps a role co-ordinating hobbies and activities for those with creative or artistic inclinations. More practically minded individuals may be well-suited to general maintenance, cleaning or transport positions.

A passion for people and companionship as well as the work you do can make such an impact on your role and those around you. With each home operating as its own community accommodating every need for those who live there - the possibilities really are endless.

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