This week, the Department of Health and Social Care, published a new PPE (personal protective equipment) strategy, which sets out how PPE will be delivered to the frontline, in both health and social care, until the end of March 2021. This is a good opportunity to firstly thank the health and care workforce for everything they do - and have done - during the exceptional circumstances we all find ourselves in.
One of the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic has been how to deal with the massive amounts of information and guidance being produced by the government and across the whole social care sector. At the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), their approach has been to reach out and engage the social care sector to find out what they need in terms of good practice guidance and support.
NHS staff are described, rightly, as members of the country’s frontline defence against coronavirus. That frontline is populated by another group of equally dedicated men and women: care workers. Paul Jenkins, Covid -19 Senior Briefing Officer here at the Department of Health and Social Care, explains the support provided to date and signposts services available to keep them well in mind and body.
Since the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, much of the world's shared anxiety and worry has focused on how, when and where the virus is transmitted. This worry has been no less acute in our country's care homes. Jeremy Richardson, Chief Executive of Four Seasons Health Care, explains why his business is one of the many care home providers participating in a new research study to determine how outbreaks occur in residential care settings - and could be prevented.
The recent announcement confirming the routine and regular weekly testing of care home staff for covid-19 infections is hugely welcome and represents another step up in the fight against the virus within care homes. The National Care Forum's Executive Director Vic Rayner explains why expanding the testing programme in this way is so essential.
As the UK’s coronavirus lockdown continues to cautiously ease, it remains just as important to protect ourselves and others from the risk of infection. Helen Donovan, RCN and Chair of the Self Care Forum and Dr Knut Schroeder, GP and CE of the Self Care Forum explain why they believe self care should lie at the heart of society's response to the pandemic.
This week , SCIE (the Social Care Institute for Excellence) publish a set of products from phase 2 of the Department Health and Social Care funded social care innovation network. SCIE's Chief Operating Officer Ewan King reveals how 24 organisations, including local authorities, innovative organisations and locally engaged citizens of people with lived experience have been exploring how best to support innovation to flourish.
Nimal Jude, valued friend of our blogs and Practice Development Consultant at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, considers how lockdown is impacting on incidents of domestic abuse. How can we adapt our processes and services to identify, support and protect those in danger and help perpetrators break the cycle - especially in these unusual times.
Connecting has never meant so much Mental health Awareness Week has taken on a whole new meaning for me during this current pandemic. The theme for this week has been 'kindness matters' which is so important to our mental wellbeing. …
Gareth Howells is CEO of Carers Trust. In this guest blog, Gareth explains how coronavirus is making the lives of unpaid carers even more difficult than before, and what Carers Trust is doing, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care and others, to support them during the pandemic.
