Well, it is nearly a month since I last wrote one of these fortnightly updates. I have been away on leave but not for the whole time I can assure you!
I came back on Monday and what a busy day that was with the launch of the4 12-week consultation on the proposals for the National Care Service and much more. Indeed, it is the more that has caught many people by surprise. It has in some ways gone much further than some of us thought – incorporating into its scope children and families, criminal justice and other services which has not been considered by the Feeley review. We will be holding engagement events for our own members so that you can feed into our formal response which we will of course be making. In some senses our response is already out there in the excellent work of the Manifesto and Coilleadnadh. But this is a different document so we will articulate our response to reflect the views of you the members.
I will hold my fir now, but it is interesting to note the furious reaction of local government and COSLA in the removal of their autonomy and control being proposed in the creation of new Community Health and Social Care Partnerships. It is also interesting to note that whilst there is a lot about eh charging of people for residential elements of their care there is a virtual financial invisibility on any other costings and resource implications of the not insignificant proposals and changes being suggested. Overall and it may be jaundice after having been off – it is a document which disappoints having lost the vision and insight, the originality and bravery of the Feeley report. But we shall see what the coming debates, discussions and weeks will bring.
The following is a summary of some of the main issues in the week that has passed.
Pandemic response
Monday also saw the day which we are not allowed to describe with the ‘F’ word ‘for Freedom. Having spent a fortnight in the land of the unmasked aka England it was interesting to see the extent to which the emphasis on caution and on mask wearing seems to be holding sway in large parts of Scotland unlike in parts of England. Personally, I think this is both reasonable, proportionate, and healthy!
In general terms numbers are thankfully continuing to decline both in terms of infections, hospital admissions and deaths. The R number is now solidly below 1. The care home data this last is also positive – I note that on the week to the 25th July there were 11 deaths, then 2 the following week and this last week to the 8ththere were a total of 6 deaths directly related to Covid. Confirmed outbreaks in the last week were at 26 compared to 44 the week before, and 57 the previous so again a positive measure. There is some concern, however, that some of the outbreaks have been sizeable in nature and there is further investigation being undertaken on these.
Data for visiting remains something of a concern and is still receiving negative comment in social and other media. For data up to 11th August 96% of responding homes are allowing 2 visits – the bare minimum on the February guidance. Only 205 homes are allowing daily visits, and 371 multiple visitors. These latter figures show a very small increase on data from a fortnight before.
We are still waiting the publication of Beyond the Levels Guidance to take into account the changes for wider society which were experienced last Monday.
Testing.
I would draw your attention to new Guidance issued in relation to the new Orient Gene tests which are to be available from Monday. This will give considerably more flexibility to both staff and employers in the use of LFTs. There are a series of webinars which have been organised by Scottish Government to explain the changes and to answer any questions and I would encourage you and colleagues to attend these.
Workforce crisis
We continue to be very aware of the very real challenges which are facing employers in terms of staff shortages both with regard to recruitment and retention and ongoing issues re isolation and annual leave. Whilst there seems to be some alleviation in the last week, we will continue to hold this issue before other stakeholders.
Nursing
I attended an emergency meeting chaired by CNOD on the whole set of issues facing nursing in the sector. There is a shared acceptance that we are facing a critical shortage of nurses across community and care home provision. A working group has been established with representation from the sector to try to identify practical steps which can be taken to address this challenge. We will keep you up to date on any practical developments.
Sustainability Funding
Thank you to those who attended the meetings organised by Karen to enable Scottish Government colleagues to hear about our ongoing concerns and issues in relation to sustainability funding moving for3aqrd. Your contribution was invaluable and I ama ware that those who attended may have been surprised at what they heard and the strength of emotion and feeling that was shared. We are concerned that there is too ready an assumption that support for the sector can be or should be withdrawn at the end of September and will continue to highlight the extensive fragility the sector is under at this current time for a whole number of issues which have coalesced to form the perfect storm.
Karen and I are due – for the first time – to meet the new Cabinet Secretary and the new Minister for Social Care next week and we will make sure they are made very aware of the many issues which are facing the sector and our members at this time. We would hope to report back on that meeting later.
Care Tech 4 – 26 & 27 August
Our annual Care Tech event will take place on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th of August. This year we are holding a virtual 2-day event with the opportunity to hear about the latest developments in technology and digital in social care, as well as engage with a range of suppliers. More details and information to follow. The programme which tara French has created is an excellent mix of expert speakers and innovative products so please seriously consider attending as it is important that we keep the focus on these issues at a time of real transition and changer.
Tickets are remarkably good value at £20 plus VAT for the two days so please support our work by attending. For more details see https://scottishcare.org/care-tech-4-tickets-now-on-sale/
Staff vacancies
Since I last wrote we have sadly said goodbye to Jacqui Neil who has left her nursing lead role at Scottish Care to join the RCN and we will also be saying goodbye to Dr Tara French at the end of the month who goes on to a strategic role with NHS Highland. They have both been excellent members of staff bringing focus, dedication and professionalism to their roles and we all wish them well. However, plus ca change – we have advertised both posts so please think seriously about whether you know anyone who might be suited to apply. These are critical roles at an extremely important time fort the independent care sector.
See https://scottishcare.org/job-opportunity-transforming-workforce-lead-21/ and https://scottishcare.org/job-opportunity-technology-and-digital-innovation-lead-21/
Can I also draw your attention to a post in Dumfries and Galloway – https://scottishcare.org/job-opportunity-project-administrator-dumfries-and-galloway/
Climate Change Event
I was delighted to join colleagues for part of the joint roundtable on Climate Change which was held last Wednesday. This was the first of three and was quite excellent. I know at such challenging times it can be hard to think of issues and spend time on concerns which appear not to be immediate. However, the UN report last Monday underlined just why these issues are of such criticality for the whole of society and the significance of social care’s contribution to meeting the challenge was made abundantly clear last Wednesday. Huge thanks to Imogen and to Karen for leading and co-ordinating this work. There are two roundtables left so please consider getting involved. See https://scottishcare.org/climate-action-and-the-social-care-collective/
Surgery
Our Surgery this coming Tuesday 17th August will be for be focussed on Care Homes. It will be led by Caroline Deane and myself and is at the usual time of 11.am. These surgeries are now running for 30 mins so please do join us.
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM took place (virtually) on Thursday last. Huge thanks to the over 70 members who attended.
We were delighted to be able to launch our first Annual Report at the event which is now available online. This report reflects and evidences the work and efforts of the Scottish Care team over the past year, during what has been a challenging time for the social care sector.
This report is divided into two different sections:
The ‘Activities and Achievements‘ section provides a business overview of Scottish Care: our aim and objectives, strategic priorities, and additional workstreams. It also covers what we have achieved over the past year, outlining the activities of our strategic priorities and workstreams.
The ‘Finance and Governance‘ section gives detailed reporting of our financial performance and outlines our approach to overall governance via the Executive Committee and other representative groups.
A recording of the AGM will be available shortly.
And finally, …
Please join me every Tuesday at 7pm to light a #candleforcare.
This fortnightly update will next appear on the 28thAugust.
Many thanks
Donald
14th August 2021
