Coronavirus (COVID-19) Special Brief – 7 May 2020

From time to time VODG receives helpful offers of support. VODG member CEOs are being offered a free and confidential resource for sector leaders to discuss organisational and individual challenges arising from the pandemic. If this would be of interest, please email Rhidian Hughes ([email protected]) in the first instance.

As many of you will know, the current Government, in its COVID-19 response, has said "we will do everything in our power to ensure the needs of disabled people are addressed". It has become increasingly evident, however, that its agencies are not releasing crucial data that is in the public’s interest.

As part of our influencing work calling for full data transparency to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on disabled people we are pleased that the issue is now being picked up. The issue was covered by the Health Services Journal, a link to which is included below.

Today's briefing includes a summary of a Q&A discussion with DHSC on PPE as well as details of a number of upcoming events taking place in the coming weeks. The Minister for Care has also released a letter about testing in care homes.

As ever, please contact [email protected] with any feedback or comments.

• The Care Minister Helen Whately has issued a letter to the sector about the launch of a new digital portal for COVID-19 testing in care homes.
• As part of our activity with Care Provider Alliance, we submitted a number of questions to the Department of Health and Social Care on PPE. Below is the full Q&A with responses provided in italics.Please can we have a full list to explain the various type of face mask products that exist and which ones are suitable for which type of use? The guidance masks the distinction between fluid resistant and surgical masks but this is hard to interpret in terms of the different types of face mask products. Given that the DHSC has a procurement team working on the Clipper solution, can they produce a list of which face masks meet the spec for being fluid resistant and which don’t? There is an action to make this request to HSE.   Please then clarify which face masks can be used for sessional use and which can’t? We haven’t differentiated this in any of the PPE guidance i.e. in guidance we have indicated that all masks/ respirators can be used sessionally. Please advise as to what we should do if we run out of PPE, especially face masks? There is published advice on this – see here. In the event that we cannot get fluid resistant face masks, can we use surgical masks and a full face visor instead? We are seeking advice on this question. The guidance says it is ok to use the same face mask when moving between residents with symptoms and those without symptoms as long as the care work does not touch the face mask at any point – is that correct? Yes If so, can PHE offer advice on how best to explain this to residents/ customers? To date, providers have been changing masks as workers move between groups of residents with symptoms and groups without in the understanding that his is best practice – is this not correct now? Care homes are encouraged to cohort asymptomatic/symptomatic residents and staff, however, it is recognised that up to 30% of residents maybe COVID positive without symptoms. Providing the mask is not touched it can be kept on between residents regardless of symptoms as described in the guidance documents. In this example, if carers move between cohort areas normally without taking a break then they can continue to use the same mask (though single use items such as gloves and aprons would need to be changed). This would not present risk to staff or residents providing there is no touching of the mask. This could be explained to residents as consistent with national guidance if required. As above, however, we would generally advise that cohort areas have dedicated staff rather than moving between areas. If staff move between these areas in practice it may be that would do so after taking a break in duties (in which case they would be required to change their mask). Please can we have more practical advice on how to decontaminate and re-use PPE if supplies are dangerously low? We need clear instructions please. PHE will contact the group that NHSE have convened to assess how single use PPE might safely be reprocessed and will feed back to the care sector group at a future meeting. What are you doing to resolve the differing advice from local PH Teams? PHE is working with Health Protection Teams to ensure that they can access standardised advice for care homes.
• The government has launched its Care Workforce App. A video with more information is available here.
• All feedback, please email [email protected]