Please see below for a copy of the letters sent to social care providers from Donna Bell (Director of Mental Health and Social Care) on the expansion of Covid-19 testing in adult social care.
Testing Expansion in Care Homes
Donna Bell MHSC letter on expansion of testing - care homes - 25.11.20Testing Expansion in Care at Home
Donna Bell MHSC letter - expansion of testing to care at home services - 25.11.20
Please see below for a copy of the letters sent to social care providers from Donna Bell (Director of Mental Health and Social Care) on the expansion of Covid-19 testing in adult social care.
Testing Expansion in Care Homes
Donna Bell MHSC letter on expansion of testing - care homes - 25.11.20Testing Expansion in Care at Home
Donna Bell MHSC letter - expansion of testing to care at home services - 25.11.20
The Scottish Government is asking people across the country to recognise the value of connecting with and helping others by reaching out to friends, family, neighbours and communities near and far in a bid to generate One Million Words of Kindness by Monday 30 November to mark St Andrew’s Day.
Launching this week with the reveal of a bespoke postcard designed by Edinburgh-based illustrator Emily Hogarth, the campaign celebrates the community spirit and shared kindness displayed across the country in what has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging years Scotland has faced in decades.
More than 100,000 free postcards which feature a matt laminate finish for Covid safety will be available in all 104 Lidl stores across Scotland from this week, for shoppers to pick up and send messages of thanks, hope or a simple hello to mark Scotland’s national day. The card is also available to download and share online from the Scottish Government’s website: www.onescotland.org/st-andrews-day
So ahead of 30th November, let’s all come together and continue to reach out and share kindness with those around us, especially now when we need it the most.
You can join in with these very special celebrations by simply sharing the postcard on your social media channels. Please use the hashtag #WeAreScotland in anything you post online.
If you would like further information, contact Ainsley Piggott at Stripe Communications on [email protected].
Influenza is a highly infectious disease that occurs every year, usually in the winter. Symptoms can come on very quickly and include fever, chills, headache, aches and pains in the joints and muscles, and extreme tiredness.
Infected health and social care workers can spread flu to people receiving care and colleagues even if they have very mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all.
The flu vaccine provides the best protection available against the virus.
The best way for social care staff to avoid flu is to get a flu jab as part of this programme.
We encourage staff to take up this opportunity.  It’s quick, safe and free.
Find out more on the NHS Inform website: https://www.nhsinform.scot/flu
flu-campaign-leaflet-for-social-care-workers-2020Link to leaflet:Â http://www.healthscotland.scot/media/3171/flu-campaign-leaflet-for-social-care-workers-2020.pdf
Preferred Supplier, Citation, recently presented at our Winter Planning Workshop and has shared some free resources and guides that may be helpful to providers.
Please click the bolded links below to access these guides.
Important webinar for care providers – employee wellbeing and engagement
After such a challenging year for the care sector, it’s never been more important to focus on your staff. Whether their stresses and strains stem from in or out of work, it’s easy to overlook those struggling in silence.
That’s why Scottish Care Preferred Supplier, Citation, is hosting a webinar on Thursday 26 November at 2 PM, which we strongly encourage members to join.
The hour-long session will offer practical top tips on how to proactively support your employees’ wellbeing. This includes the importance of developing strong foundations in HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety, to create an environment in which your people will feel safe, happy and supported.
The session will be interactive and there will be an opportunity to ask their experts questions throughout, including a dedicated Q & A.
Some of the key discussion points will include:
Places are first come, first serve, so please reserve your place today to avoid missing out.
Once you have registered using the above link, please click here for further details for helpful tips on how to join on the day.
Please note that this webinar is open to all care providers and this session is hosted through Cisco Webex instead of Zoom.
Please see below for correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport outlining the alignment of the Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Levels with Adult Care Homes visiting guidance.
This guidance also includes updates on
This updated guidance is now available on the Scottish Government Covid-19 Care Homes guidance web page.
The Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) will now be offered to both levy payers and SMEs, across the private, public and third sectors. This will allow employers to utilise funding for upskilling and reskilling their workforce.  An initial £13 million was made available to allow colleges to provider additional support for levy paying employers. Now the second £7million phase has been announced, with £5million available to support SMEs through a college and Open University in Scotland partnership, while Skills Development Scotland will offer a new option testing the use of private training providers for levy paying businesses who require specialist training. Applications are expected to open on 16th November.
More information is available here:
On 1 September 2020, an Independent Review of Adult Social Care was announced by the Scottish Government, chaired by Derek Feeley and tasked with reporting by January 2021.
Scottish Care developed a submission of key recommendations to inform the Independent Review, which outlined what we deem to be priority areas for focus. These areas are as follows:
Building on this submission, Scottish Care was invited to develop an ‘ideas-focused’ paper as a further input to the Review by the deadline of 6 November 2020.
Given that the challenges and barriers that exist in a social care context have been articulated and documented at length – including by Scottish Care – we recognise the need for a Review to move beyond recommendations towards action and commitment to enact change.
We have therefore developed this paper, entitled ‘What If and Why Not? Making the Future of Social Care A Reality’, as an opportunity to present a positive yet actionable future perspective and encourage dialogue and debate on what the future could and should look like. The paper represents a different approach than usual Scottish Care reports and responses, but we see it as an important part of a wider approach to ensuring the specific experiences, concerns and aspirations of Scottish Care members and different parts of the sector are represented in such a critical process of review.
This paper is designed to be complementary to the series of engagement sessions which Scottish Care members took part in as part of the Review process. These sessions provided a direct opportunity to present the challenges and experiences of the social care reality from the perspective of social care providers and other stakeholders.  The paper reframes the challenges that are documented extensively in previous research and reports to present these as possibilities to inform the review process.
In the paper we offer a collection of social care narratives and ‘what if’ questions, underpinned by a Scottish Care evidence review, as a way to engage imaginations across all sectors and stakeholders towards creating a positive future for social care in Scotland.
We hope to use the paper as part of wider discussions and collaborative work with stakeholders and partners across Scotland in order to positively shape the future of social care.
If you would like to discuss the paper further, please contact Becca Young or Dr Tara French at [email protected]
SC What If and Why Not Making the Future of Social Care a Reality Nov 20
Could a simple salt water solution help to reduce the early symptoms and progression of COVID-19?
COVID-19 has quickly spread all over the world. It usually causes a fever, cough and other symptoms and can be severe in some people. Although a few treatment options are now available for individuals who are hospitalised with severe disease, there are currently no effective treatments for those who are managing COVID-19 at home and self-isolating.
The University of Edinburgh are running a study called ELVIS COVID-19 to find out if nasal washout and gargling with salt water helps individuals with COVID-19 get better faster by helping to ease the symptoms of the virus.
Scottish Care supports this ELVIS COVID-19 study and encourages those who are suitable to take part in it.
This study is for any adult in the UK who has developed COVID-19 symptoms in the last 48 hours, is isolating at home, and has not been advised to go to the hospital. We will gather information of symptoms throughout the period of illness and will use this to see if nasal washout and gargling with salt water has helped.
Visit the study website for more information and to check if you can get involved.
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