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Test & Protect – Protect Scotland App Launch

The free Protect Scotland App from NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect is now available to download on protect.scot and via the App Store and Google Play. 

The free Protect Scotland App is here to help keep Scotland safe from coronavirus.  The app is the next step in stopping the spread of coronavirus and complements existing contact tracing measures, helping us to determine contacts that we may have otherwise missed, and allows us to alert people at risk far more quickly so they can steps to reduce the risk of infecting others. 

How the App Works

This app uses tried and tested technology developed by Apple and Google and is already working successfully in other countries across Europe. It works in the background using minimal data and will automatically alert you if you have been in close contact with another app user who has tested positive. And if you test positive, the app can quickly alert those you have had close contact with. The app uses Bluetooth technology, so it never knows your identity or location.

Campaign Information

The Protect Scotland App launch will be supported by a 4 week campaign across TV, radio, press, social media, digital, PR and partnerships activity. The  campaign will direct to the new protect.scot website, where you can learn more on how the app works, information on privacy and data and FAQs.

Ø  View the TV Ad Here

Ø  View the Explainer Video Here

Campaign Assets

Available campaign resources will include: Posters, social media, editorial copy, app screen shots and explainer videos.

How to Help

Please post on social media, discuss within your organisation and share the campaign information across your networks. As we see the rate of infection increase it’s important that we all download and use the Protect Scotland app. The more of us using the app, the better it will work. 

Stakeholder Toolkit

Download stakeholder toolkit
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Scottish Care’s statement on insurance concerns

Scottish Care has recently held talks with the insurance sector as a result of concerns being raised by our members. These primarily relate to a reduction in the number of companies willing to provide public and employee liability insurance for the care home sector.

We appreciate that the insurance sector has been affected by Covid-19 and has suffered a negative financial impact, but we hope that this will not result in exorbitant price rises for the social care sector in Scotland.

We have become aware that there are a number of insurers who are not willing to take on new clients which is making it very challenging for our members to shop around and get the best deal for their organisations.

We continue to monitor the situation closely because we are very concerned that there are very real risks to the survival and sustainability of the care sector.

CEO Dr Donald Macaskill said:

“It is very important in these challenging and hard times during the pandemic that the insurance sector supports care homes as they have traditionally always done. Care providers need to provide assurance to both residents and staff that they are adequately protected by insurance and I hope that the insurance sector will work closely with ourselves and care homes to get the real picture of what life is like. Yes there have been really challenging times but our journey back to what is closer to normal will not be helped if the insurance sector pulls the rug from underneath the care sector.”

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Tickets now available for Homecare Festival – 7-9 October

We are delighted to announce that tickets are now on sale for ‘Homecare Festival’, a virtual event taking place from Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th October.  

Tickets are priced at £45 + VAT and will give attendees access to all 3 days of the event.

The Homecare Festival is an important opportunity to recognise the crucial role of care at home and housing support services in supporting our older and vulnerable citizens.

There will be a series of online sessions over this three-day period, bringing together a range of speakers and panellists to highlight challenges faced by the care at home & housing support sector and to discuss the future of homecare.

Each day will have a different theme: 

Wednesday 7th October: Re-shaping homecare: issues of vision, sustainability and practice

Thursday 8th October: Maximising potential: the critical role of the homecare workforce

Friday 9th October: Home is where the rights are: homecare and human rights

 A full programme for these three days can be found below.

The Homecare Festival will end with an Awards Evening on Friday 9th October to celebrate the dedicated workforce in the independent homecare sector and all the extraordinary work that they do. This will be a separate event, tickets will be available shortly. Find out more about the awards here.

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Joint SSSC & Scottish Care Dementia & PEOLC Workforce Group

Dear all

Scottish Care and SSSC would like to invite you to attend a meeting of the Joint SSSC & Scottish Care Dementia & PEOLC Workforce Group.

We have sent out previous communications and before lockdown had raised the proposal of merging the Dementia Joint Group and the PEOLC group due to the similarities and overlap of learning and development requirements the social care workforce have regarding these forms of care services.

Both groups expressed a desire to merge and saw the potential in coming together and discussing Dementia and PEOLC learning needs and deciding what requires focus and development but saw benefit in having separate meetings for Care Home providers and Home Care providers.  This has been recognised as being even more important as a result of COVID-19 and its impact on each care setting which has quite distinct differences.

Therefore we are delighted to invite you to our first meeting of the Joint Dementia & PEOLC group for our Home care members on 29th September being held virtually on Microsoft Teams between 1:30 and 2:30pm.

As with previous meetings of workforce groups we are keen that the content and discussion themes are shaped by the members of the group and facilitated where possible by Scottish Care and SSSC.  This could include inviting speakers to join future meetings who can provide learning and development resources and opportunities.  The group could also connect its members with tests of change and social care pilots that are taking place to give care providers opportunities to test innovative ways of working and embedding learning and knowledge in the workforce.

If you are interested in being part of the Dementia & PEOLC group and joining the meeting on the 29th September please can you email [email protected]  to confirm your attendance.

 

Kind regards

Caroline Deane

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Anaphylaxis learning module and guidance for registered nurses in health and social care

All registered nurses in health and social care can now access anaphylaxis training via a landing page on Turas Learn. This is not specific to care homes but for use across NHS and social care.  If staff are not already registered they can use the link below. This is an elearning module provided by NHS Grampian and can be used as an educational resource and will provide a print off completion certificate. This is not a competency certificate therefore current local arrangements would apply, as with any training. Hopefully this will assist staff training in advance of the commencement of the flu season however if staff have already undertaken the relevant training then there is no need to complete this module.

To register for a Turas Learn account in order to be able to access the NES resources including the anaphylaxis please click on .

Please see below for more information on this module.

Anaphylaxis: Learning module and guidance for Registered Nurses in health and care settings  

  • By undertaking this module, you agree to read and consolidate the information below, which highlights important considerations in the context of your work place. 
  • NHS Grampian have kindly shared open access to this resource, developed to enhance staff knowledge in responding to acute needs when a person develops anaphylaxis.  

Learning Aim: 

Recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis is required to ensure that people receive a high standard of care from trained and competent practitioners, in line with legal and professional requirements. 

Learning Outcomes:  

  • Define the term anaphylaxis; 
  • Identify triggers that could cause an anaphylactic reaction; 
  • Describe the signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction; 
  • Describe the management of a patient with an anaphylactic reaction; 
  • State the dose and route of adrenaline (epinephrine) to be administered to an adult; 
  • Know how and where to gain safe and appropriate access to  Adrenaline.

Successful completion of this learning module indicates you have met the learning objectives.  It supports increasing your knowledge regarding how to deal with an anaphylactic reaction in an adult.  You may wish to discuss the associated learning outcomes alongside any local, relevant issues with your peers.   

This resource should be viewed in tandem with local policy in the facility within which you are based and in conjunction with standard guidance for managing a deteriorating person/ cardiac arrest.   

Links at the base of this page can guide you to supplementary resources. 

In this context, it is important that a registered nurse in any health and care setting 

  • Always functions within their scope of professional practice
  • Can respond effectively in a potential emergency, following local protocol to manage an emergency situation
  • Is current with recommendations for access to and administration of emergency medication such as adrenaline within the facility they are based
  • Knows where and how to access such medication 

This eLearning module was developed by NHS Grampian, in accordance with guidance from the Resuscitation Council UK.  It refers to NHS Grampian regarding access to medication (Adrenaline) and administration in an emergency situation. Any such references should be replaced by  local policy in your care facility. 

Useful learning resources: 

  1. Resuscitation Council UK: Emergency Treatment of Anaphylactic Reactions   https://www.resus.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-06/EmergencyTreatmentOfAnaphylacticReactionsPPT.pdf 
  2. Recognising a deteriorating person; guidance regarding how to respond when an adult deteriorates can be found at the following link
    https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/28267/coronavirus-covid-19/assessment-and-care-of-people-with-covid-19  
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Guidance for GP practices on ACP Conversations with People with Dementia living in the Community during COVID-19

The Chief Medical Officer has issued new guidance for GPs and primary care practitioners on managing Anticipatory Care Planning conversations with people with dementia and their families and carers.

Please see below for letter and guidance.

Chief Medical Officer - final version - SGHDCMO(2002)24 - ACP guidelines - 11 September 2020

Dementia - COVID-19 ACP guidance

Download letter
Download guidance
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Webinar: National analysis of hospital discharges into care homes – 17 September

Public Health Scotland are undertaking a review of hospital discharges into care homes (March-May 2020), commissioned by the Cabinet Secretary for Health Secretary for Health and Sport.

This work will identify those who were discharged from an inpatient hospital setting into care homes during this period, describing their COVID-19 status and relationship between discharges and COVID-19 outbreaks and mortality.

The data included in the publication will be aggregated and reported at Health and Social Care Partnership or Healthboard level.

The team are keen to engage with care staff, managers and providers about the work which is underway and future potential insights, sharing their methods and plans moving forward.

The team provide a short presentation and welcome dialogue to answer any questions during this webinar.

This webinar session will take place on Thursday 17 September, between 10 – 11 am and will be hosted by our CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill. He will be joined by:

  • Scott Heald, Head of Profession for Statistics, Public Health Scotland
  • Fiona Mackenzie, Service Manager, Public Health Scotland
  • Jenni Burton, Clinical Lecturer, University of Glasgow

This webinar is for Scottish Care care home members, details to join are available on the Members Area of this website.

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Updated guidance – COVID-19: allow families equal access to visit dying relatives

The Scottish Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (the ‘Scottish Academy’), the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (the ‘College’), Marie Curie and Scottish Care have co-produced new guiding principles, designed to ensure that dying patients in Scotland are treated humanely, compassionately and with dignity during the COVID-19 pandemic. They want the Scottish Government to adopt the guidelines as a matter of urgency.

The guidance is available on: https://www.scottishacademy.org.uk/covid-19-allow-families-equal-access-visit-dying-relatives-guidance-was-updated-september-2020