COVID-19 INFORMATION

-controlling the spread of infection in care settings

-supporting the workforce

-supporting independence, supporting people at the end of their lives, and responding to individual needs

-supporting local authorities and the providers of care

The plan applies to all settings and contexts in which people receive adult social care. This includes people’s own homes, residential care homes and nursing homes, and other community settings. It applies to people with direct payments and personal budgets, and those who fund their own care.

This guidance is for people, including children, who are at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus (COVID-19) because of an underlying health condition, and for their family, friends and carers. It is intended for use in situations where the extremely vulnerable person is living in their own home, with or without additional support. This includes the extremely clinically vulnerable people living in long-term care facilities, either for the elderly or persons with special needs.

Under the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015, it is legal to share information to support a person’s care. For COVID-19, carers, local authorities and social care providers, including care homes and domiciliary organisations, should be sharing information with the people they care for and their local GPs, community health services, hospitals, local authorities, voluntary sector, pharmacists, and health services.

In response to COVID-19, as of Monday 30 March 2020, the Home Office and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) will be putting temporary arrangements in place, to provide DBS checks and fast-track emergency checks of the Adults’ and Children’s Barred Lists free-of-charge. This will apply to healthcare and social care workers being recruited in connection with the provision of care and treatment of coronavirus (COVID-19) in England and Wales.

To ensure that the necessary DBS checks can still be carried out during social distancing, the DBS ID checking guidance has been changed for a temporary period.

The change will enable:

·  ID documents to be viewed over video link

·  scanned images to be used in advance of the DBS check being submitted

We are now working to our contingency plan and everything is running smoothly.

Please go to the gov website should you require further information regarding safe working.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus