carewise

sharing care information with you

Plans for new mental health strategy in Suffolk

A new vision for mental health provision and how measures will be implemented have been agreed. See article in East Anglian Daily Times.

Pioneering study on Parkinson's disease

In a pioneering study, patients with Parkinson’s disease have been fitted with implants to deliver drugs directly to the brain through the side of the head, according to an article in Engineering & Technology Magazine.

Social care staff to receive mandatory autism and disability training

Social care staff are to receive mandatory autism and disability training under new government proposals, according to an article in Care Home Professional. Click here.

Great care celebrated in Suffolk

Inspiring carers and adult social care staff received recognition at the Suffolk Care Awards 2018 held on 4th October in Ipswich for their outstanding contribution to caring for people in Suffolk. Find out who won.

Ombudsman publishes care home complaints guide

The Ombudsman has published a care home complaints guide. See article in Care Home Professional here. The documents can be downloaded from the Ombudsman’s website by clicking here.

Liberty Protection Safeguards

A new law seeks to protect the rights of people who do not have the mental capacity to make decisions about their care and to reduce the burden on local authorities. The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill was introduced to the House of Lords on 3 July 2018 and seeks to replace the current system known as ‘Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards’ (DoLs). Read more here.

How services work together for the over 65s

A new report by the Care Quality Commision (CQC) called Beyond barriers looks at how services are working together to support and care for people aged 65 and over. Click here.

When should workers refresh their knowledge and skills?

Skills for Care has just launched a new ongoing learning and development guide developed with managers in mind. Click here for details.

New medicines e-learning

The Care Homes 1 E-Learning package is aimed at all care home staff involved with managing medicines. It is the first of several, planned e-learning packages for care homes and will include modules in addition to three case studies to help apply learning to practice. Click here for details. To details of how to register on PrescQIPP site, click here.

New website aimed at carers

Scie, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, has launched a new website aimed at carers. You can access it here.

Care Careers East launches in Eastern region

A new service focused on helping adult social care employers find the right staff to service the growing needs of the health and social care sector in the East of England has been launched. Care Careers East works with care providers seeking staff in Suffolk, Norfolk and North Essex. It also works with individuals who would like to work in the care sector by matching them with existing vacancies. Click here to find out more and read the press release.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trusts gets 'outstanding' rating

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) has received an ‘outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – one of seven general hospitals in England, and the only one in the Midlands and East region, to receive this rating. CQC visited the Trust in November 2017. It was rated outstanding for being caring, effective and well-led, and 'good' for being safe and responsive. More information.

Six innovations in social care

A report looking at six innovations in social care by SCIE, the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Click here.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue care provider support

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has put together a number of useful guides and support materials for care providers in terms of fire health and safety. Click on the following documents to access them: Fire Safety Checklist for CarersAdvice for Home Carer ProfessionalsNHS Fire HazardPerson Centred FRA GuideUsing Paraffin-Based Creams SafelyCare Homes 7 Point Graphic.

Data implications for social care employers

Skills for Care has produced a useful fact sheet giving details of the implications for social care employers of the new General Data Protection Regulations coming into force next year. Click here.

Sleep-ins compliance scheme launched

The Government has launched the Social Care Compliance Scheme - see details here -  to identify back pay for workers on the topic of sleep-ins.  It says it expects all employers pay their workers according to the law, including for sleep-in shifts, as set out in guidance entitled Calculating The Minimum Wage.

Map shows dementia hotspots in Anglia region

A new 'dementia hotspots' map has revealed the devastating impact of the disease in the Anglia region, according to an ITV report. Click here.

Safeguarding guide gets 'phenomenal' feedback

A 16-page best practice guide on adult safeguarding has been published by the East Anglia and NHS Adult Safeguarding Forum. The Forum says its Adult Safeguarding Best Practice Guidance for Providers of Healthcare in East Anglia and Essex  has received “phenomenal” feeback in terms of the value of the resource for health and social care providers and practitioners.

Free oral healthcare e-learning course

Skills for Health and Health Education England has launched a new free oral healthcare e-learning course to support anyone interested in learning more about oral health and mouth care.  It will be particularly useful for those providing care for others.

New guide for registered managers of care homes

NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced a quick guide - Moving between hospital and home, including care homes - for registered managers of care homes. Click for the pdf copy.

Conflicts of interest joint statement

The chief executives of statutory regulators of health and care professionals have signed a joint statement on conflicts of interest. Read more here.

The role of arts and culture in social care

The arts can help keep us well, aid our recovery, support longer lives better lived, meet major challenges facing social care, ageing, long-term conditions, loneliness and mental health - as well as save money in social care. Those are the key findings in a briefing paper by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing (APPGAHW) in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (Scie). Click here.

Supporting aspiring leaders

Skills for Care's Moving Up BAME programme supports aspiring social care leaders from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to step up and establish themselves within senior management roles. Click here to find out more.

Action planning tool for care homes

The Social Care Institute for Excellence, Scie, has a new tool for improving personalisation in care homes. The action planning tool is for managers and owners of care homes for older people. Click here.

Oral health in care homes

NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has published a new quality standard covering oral health, dental health and daily mouth care for adults in care homes, with and without nursing provision. Click here.

End of life training DVD

You can access a free DVD to help with training staff delivering end of life care by clicking here. It has been funded through the Commissioning for Learning Group and has been produced by the Norfolk and Suffolk Palliative Care Academy.

Ageing with optimism

Seminars useful for people thinking about care for the future, including what to look for in a residential/nursing home, are being held in Ipswich on May 16th - one in the afternoon and one in the evening. You need to pre-book by emailing tfelton@prettys.co.uk and click here for a flyer.

Apprenticeships frameworks date announced

The current apprenticeships frameworks in Health and Social Care and in Care Leadership and Management will be withdrawn by Skills for Care and Development on 29 December, 2017. See details on Skills for Care website.

Sharing good practice by care providers

The Care Quality Commission has published a report sharing a collection of short case studies of good practice shown by care providers that are rated good or outstanding overall. Click here to access a pdf of the report called Celebrating good care, championing outstanding care. Skills for Care has produced a good and outstanding care guide. Click here. 

Dementia Together service launched

Sue Ryder has launched a new dementia service for Suffolk (excluding Waveney) called Dementia Together, working in partnership with Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, Purple Tuesday and the University of Suffolk to offer a single point of contact for people curious or concerned about dementia. Click here for an information sheet. For a referral form, click here.

Government publishes framework for integration

The Government's Better Care Fund (BCF) will provide financial support for councils and NHS organisations to jointly plan and work together to deliver local services. The Integration and Better Care Fund Policy Framework 2017 to 2019 has been published today.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Care England has welcomed the changes that coroners will no longer have a duty to undertake an inquest into the death of every person who was subject to an authorisation under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Click Care England here.

Housing for older people

A report from law firm Winckworth Sherwood, called The Other End of The Housing Market: House for Older People, supported by the Housing LIN, builds on a survey that sought to better understand what practical measures might be taken to improve later life housing.

Diabetic foot care report

Healthwatch Suffolk has produced a report exploring people’s experiences of diabetic foot care services in Suffolk. The report is available to download here.

Transforming health and social care

A report on the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) website which looks at how transformed and integrated health and care could improve outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Here's the link.

Changing needs of residents in care homes

The Care Inspectorate has published a report looking into the dependency needs of care home residents. It uses data from a large sample of Scottish care homes. Click here.

Law Commission's report on MCA/DoLS published

The Law Commission’s report Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty has been published and is awaiting a response from the Government. Click here for more information.

New paper highlights digital care revolution

A new paper by Appello highlights how digital care systems promise to revolutionise housing provision for older people in the future. Click here to go to the Appello website to read the paper.

Adult community speech and language therapy service

From 1st March, Suffolk Community Healthcare is piloting an extension to the current community referral criteria for six months to include additional provision. Click here for a letter explaining the changes and click here for a referral form.

Changes to Nutrition and Dietetic service for East Suffolk

Changes in dietetic policies for care homes in East Suffolk have been released. Click here to download the letter explaining the changes. Also the care home MUST local policy and action plan, the care home MUST referral form, and the care home handover form. All are for East Suffolk only.

New report on housing

A new report called Housing for an Ageing Society has recently been published. Here's the link. 

Social Media toolkit for healthcare

Skills for Health has put together a really useful toolkit on social media. It covers a wide range of topics, from writing a social media strategy, measurement, and showing the value of social media.  Here's the link

Praise for dementia-friendly training

The East of England Co-op has been recognised for its dementia-friendly training for colleagues. Read more by clicking here.

Working with Care Providers to Understand Costs

This practical guide is for adult social care commissioners who wish to develop their understanding of the costs involved in providing care to help them meet these duties. Entitled Working with Care Providers to Understand Costs it's by the Chartered Institute of Public Financing and Accountancy. Click here.

Mental Capacity Act free learning tool

The Medical Protection Society, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council and NHS England, has launched a free Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty online learning tool specifically for health professionals across England and Wales. It will help healthcare professionals understand what the MCA is, what they need to know, how it affects them, how it affects their patients and how to apply this to their practice. The access this free tool, click here.

E-learning update for healthcare professionals

Health Education England e-Leaning for Healthcare is making it easier for certain groups of the health and social care workforce to access e-learning. Click here for more information and for e-learning for care homes, click here.

Building the future social care workforce

More care workers are needed to meet the care and support needs of the future. A new paper from the Social Care Institute for Excellence looks at three hypothetical future scenarios, and how the sector might respond to the challenges and opportunities those scenarios offer in relation to recruiting, training and retaining care workers.

New toolkit for recruiting

Skills for Care has updated its toolkit on recruiting for values and behaviours in social care. Click here to access it. The toolkit includes topics such as job advertisements and interview questions and good practice case studies.

Consultation on new frameworks

New Apprenticeship Standards are being developed in England which will, ultimately, replace the current frameworks. The survey for assistant health practitioner support is open until 7th December.  You can give your views by clicking here on Skills for Health

Free advice guide

The over 75s are at most risk of preventable winter deaths and many of these deaths could be avoided if people were given advice about staying warm and healthy during winter months.  A free guide called Being Winter Wise is available on the Independent Age website by clicking here

State of Care overview

Demands are increasing on health and social care. State of Care – the Care Quality Commission's annual overview of health and social care in England – looks at the trends, highlights examples of good and outstanding care, and identifies factors that maintain high-quality care. Click here.

Practical guide to revalidation for nurses in social care

FoNS, the centre for nursing innovation, has produced a practical guide to revalidation for nurses working in social care, as well as a video which includes a useful, short case study. Click here for website and video link.

Film about sepsis awareness

Every year 44,000 lives are lost in the UK due to sepsis.  The NHS has produced an interactive film about sepsis targeted towards healthcare professionals. There are multiple versions of the film, but click here to access it. You can also take part in a survey about the film here.

Care England announces five year strategy

Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nurse for England, has today launched a Five Year Nursing strategy for all nurses working in England Leading Change, Adding Value’ sets out a strategy for the first time which clearly includes all registered nurses and care teams working in social care. Care England is the largest representative body for independent sector social care providers. 

New mandatory training guide published

A new 60-page training guide has been published by Skills for Care called Ongoing learning and development in adult social care. It is designed to support employers to consider when their workforce should, or must, refresh their learning. A list of frequently asked questions has also been produced - click here.

Making Every Contact Count (MECC)

MECC is an approach to behaviour change that uses the millions of day-to-day interactions that organisations and individuals have with other people to support them in making positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing.  These Department of Health guidance documents support the local implementation and evaluation of MECC activity, and the development of training resources.

My Care Wishes

My Care Wishes Folder is a development on the My Advance Care Planning documents (also known as yellow folders) to support people in the last 12 months of life. Click here for an NHS letter. You can also download the shared care plan guidance document and the shared care plan template as well as a question and answer sheet.  For more information, contact Dawn Barrick-Cook on 01284 758031.

Registered Managers' Network

Care Development East's Registered Managers' Network meetings take place at Stowmarket Community Centre. Contact Amanda Bilner on amanda.bilner@caredevelopmenteast.co.uk to book a place. Click here for further information.

New accessible information standard

The accessible information standard aims to make sure that disabled people have access to information that they can understand and any communication support they might need. All organisations that provide NHS or adult social care must follow the standard by law by July 31st, 2016. NHS England PDF leaflet.

New PA Finder register launched

A free, county-wide register called PA Finder enables people to search for a personal assistant.  For the first time, PAs looking for work can put their name down on the register to find employment. PA Finder is run by The Suffolk Brokerage. Click here to go to PA Finder or click here to read a PDF press release.

Free health check for your service

One of Care Development East's expert services is a free 'health check' for your care service. Our consultant, a very experienced adult social care practitioner, will work with you and benchmark your service against good practice. Click here for details.

Top tips from Outstanding provider

Clarke Care in Bury St Edmunds recently received an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission. Owner Lorraine Clarke shared her top tips to Registered Managers at a meeting in Stowmarket run by Care Development East. Click here to read Lorraine's tips. Also, an article in The Guardian with top tips on preparing for a CQC inspection.