Item 7 - Covid Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 22 June 2022
Back to Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board — 22 June 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 REPORT Item No: 7 SUBJECT: Covid-19 Update TO: Integration Joint Board Lead Officer for Report: Ross McGuffie Chief Officer Author(s) of Report Ross McGuffie Chief Officer DATE: 22nd June 2022 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 This paper is coming to the IJB: For approval For endorsement To note 1.2 This paper sets out the actions taken to date during the pandemic response. 2. ROUTE TO THE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD 2.1 This paper has been: Prepared Reviewed Endorsed By the command structure in the Health and Social Care Partnership. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 The IJB is asked to: (1) Note progress made during the pandemic response (2) Request that future updates move to focus on recovery and remobilisation, unless the command structure is reinstated due to further significant waves. 4. VARIATIONS TO DIRECTIONS 5. BACKGROUND/SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES 5.1 Background 5.1.1 COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 12 March 2020, with spread of COVID-19 within all communities in the UK in the intervening period. 5.1.2 Command structures were immediately put in place in both North Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire, with the Health and Social Care Partnership fully participating in both. In addition, the pan Lanarkshire Resilience Partnership has supported cross-agency developments. Yes No N/A
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2 5.1.3 An overview of the current developments around Covid-19 is included below: 5.2 Update on Numbers 5.2.1 As at 8th June, the seven-day case rate within North Lanarkshire is 103 per 100k population, which is a significant decrease to the figures last presented to the IJB PFA on 15th March when it was 1,334 per 100k. 5.2.2 Through the first Omicron wave, the peak on the acute sites was on 14th January 2022 when there were 192 covid positive inpatients, however, following a steady reduction through the first half of February the second wave of Omicron hit, with a peak of 322 covid positive inpatients on 28th March, with a further 63 in off-site facilities. 5.2.3 On 4th May, NHS Lanarkshire moved out of black status back to red, with the supporting command structure stood down. This has been replaced with a Service Remobilisation and Oversight Group, with the aim of: Overseeing service remobilisation approaches Identifying unintended consequences of service recovery and remodelling Taking a whole system approach to the resolution of issues Providing assurance on progress 5.3 Care Homes 5.3.1 One of the greatest areas of focus has been around supporting the Care Home sector, covering key areas of work such as: Testing, outbreak management and ongoing surveillance Infection, prevention and control including PPE and cleaning requirements Education and training Supportive reviews and visits. Workforce requirements and supply of mutual aid 5.3.2 Across Lanarkshire, work began to strengthen the management and oversight of outbreaks in care homes in March 2020, enhancing the supports we had offered routinely up until then. This included: Social Work Quality Assurance Section – existing contact Care home Liaison Team Support – existing weekly contact HPT Management of outbreaks – daily contact during outbreaks Weekly conference calls with sector by HSCP, established March 2020 Established early contact with Care Inspectorate Care home Assurance Group, meets daily, established 23rd April 2020 Bronze care home sub group, meeting twice weekly, established 24th April 2020 Development of Care Home Strategy 23rd April 2020 Access to staff bank to enable sustainable rotas with supporting governance framework Enhanced PPE recommendations that sector move to table 4 on 1st May 2020 Prioritised programme of testing for care homes commenced 5th May 2020 Workforce group established to support screening programme established 14th May 2020 Additional support arrangements for Care Homes confirmed until June 2022, with £1,326,353 allocated as part of the Remobilisation Plan funding in June 2021.
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3 5.3.3 Following communication from the Cabinet Secretary on 17th May 2021, which outlined the additional requirements regarding accountability for provision of nursing leadership; professional oversight; implementation of infection prevention control measures; use of PPE; and quality of care; we have undertaken significant work to map our current provision of support and ongoing workforce and resource requirements to deliver this new request: Care Home Assurance Group – initially established on 23rd April 2021, group was expanded to include Chief Social Work Officers, Chief Officers and the Medical Directors. The group has also undertaken a thematic analysis of Care Homes, identifying support needs around access to updated HPS guidance; management of outbreaks; standard infection prevention and control measures; and staff support around mental health and wellbeing. Huddle - All 93 care homes in Lanarkshire have registered to use the national safety huddle template hosted on TURAS. There is a daily safety huddle meeting involving social work, care inspectorate, health protection team and nursing staff where they review this information and respond to any escalations or concern’s raised. Work continues with the Care Homes to improve completion rates, particularly at weekends. Enhanced support from Social Work Quality Assurance – including coordinated timetable of audits for each Care Home; supporting action plan development; coordinating links with colleagues in Care Home Liaison, Infection Prevention and Control, Care Inspectorate etc; and support for Homes to claim financial assistance where appropriate. Care Home Liaison – establishment increased by 0.8wte B7 and 3.4wte B6 to move to a 7 day service and enhance contact with each home in Lanarkshire. The team have undertaken visits; managed daily data returns; acted as an escalation point for PPE issues; and participated in the prioritised engagement visits as required. Health Protection Team – To enhance the outbreak management and screening testing in Care Homes, an additional 0.6wte B7, 3wte B5, 1wte B4 and 3wte B2 staff have been brought into the team. Testing – All staff continue have access to weekly asymptomatic PCR staff testing through either the social care portal or NHS laboratory testing. In addition to weekly PCR testing care home staff are now also requested to undertake twice weekly Lateral Flow Testing. Infection, Prevention and Control – In conjunction with Care Home Liaison, the IPC team provide advice and support covering virtual visits, attendance at Care Inspectorate unannounced inspections and providing support to Homes as required. Senior Nursing Leadership – a team is being developed under the leadership of a Deputy Chief Nurse to provide an immediate response during early stages of an outbreak similar to acute care setting where the focus is on early containment. This team would build on the existing care home liaison team and would have additional workforce requirements as detailed below, including IPC expertise. The outbreak testing team would be embedded within the team. 5.3.4 In November 2020 a Care Home Outbreak Oversight Group was established, chaired by a Public Health Consultant, to provide oversight of all active outbreaks. To date, Fifty-six care home outbreaks have been recorded and 37 IPC outbreak supportive visits have been undertaken by IPC specialist nurses. As an outbreak is declared the care home assurance team deploy an IPC nurse to support the care
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4 home manager to review practice and identify any immediate issues. This is in addition to routine IPC audits and support visits. Feedback from these outbreak visits is provided to the Oversight Group and common themes recorded. This supports the targeting of messaging, education and support for care homes. 5.3.5 As at 6th June, there are 3 outbreaks ongoing in Care Homes, affecting 7 residents and 8 members of staff cumulatively. 5.3.6 This is a significantly improved position from the peaks of the second Omicron wave at the end of March, when we saw 42 Care Home outbreaks affecting 536 residents and 591 staff. It is important to note that despite the scale of outbreaks in Care Homes, the vaccination programme proved to be very successful with very few hospitalisations due to covid. 5.4 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 5.4.1 One of the biggest challenges during the early phases of the pandemic was the supply of PPE to frontline staff. The national PPE guidance has evolved over time, but overall the service has been able to maintain supplies to frontline staff in line with guidance. 5.4.2 There are no ongoing issues to report. 5.5 Delayed Discharge/System Pressures/Home Support 5.5.1 Following the first wave of Omicron, delayed discharge performance improved significantly and in early February has gone back down to 50s and 60s, as it had been in October and November. However, the second Omicron wave created significant challenges across the system, with delays returning to the 70s and 80s. 5.5.2 While being significantly higher than we would aspire, it is important to note this was still significantly better than the 125 delays seen in March 2019 before the roll out of Planned Date of Discharge. 5.5.3 As at 6th June, delays are 58, showing a steady improvement over the last 4 weeks. National comparative data shows that the partnership is now in the bottom half in rates of delay, which is a considerable improvement from pre-pandemic where the partnership was consistently in the top 4. 5.5.4 The winter business case was approved at a special meeting of the IJB on 16th February 2022, with recruitment underway to support the development of the new models proposed, including:
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5 Home Assessment Teams in each Locality to support early discharge as well as admission prevention Expanded Home Support and Reablement capacity in each Locality New resource in District Nursing teams to proactively support Care Managed patients (those identified as being at the highest risk of admission) Expanded Integrated Rehabilitation Teams to create additional rehabilitation capacity for both discharge support and admission prevention 5.6 Testing 5.6.1 Staff testing has continually evolved in line with the Scottish Government guidance throughout the pandemic. We have seen a gradual reduction in testing requirements over recent months and continue to follow the national guidance in full. 5.7 Covid Vaccination 5..1 The Covid vaccination programme continues at pace, with uptake as at 6th June as follows: Total doses administered 1,564,889 Individuals with at least 1 dose 554,132 Partially vaccinated 34,139 Fully vaccinated 93,424 Boosters 426,569 5.7.2 The vaccination programme continued with the announcement of the spring programme running concurrently with the roll out for all 5 to 11 year olds: 5 to 11 year olds o Commenced 25th March Spring booster programme o Care Homes o Over 75s o Outreach visits o Severely immunosuppressed 2nd booster o Immunosuppressed >12s 2nd booster o House calls for all who are eligible, though recognising maximum efficiency is achieved by clinic attendance 5.7.3 We await JCVI guidance on the next stages of the programme, expected to commence in Autumn 2022. 6. CONCLUSIONS 6.1 There has been a tremendous effort across the whole system (including third and independent sectors, communities and public partners) in building our response to the pandemic. 6.2 The dedication, bravery and commitment of all of our frontline staff should be commended in supporting us to continue to deliver a strong service to our residents in North Lanarkshire.
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6 6.3 The delivery of the Covid Vaccination campaign is now at an advanced stage, with Lanarkshire comparing very positively against the Scottish averages. 6.4 NHS Lanarkshire moved out of black status on 4th May and the command structure was stood down accordingly. Future update papers should now focus on recovery and remobilisation, unless future waves require the command structure to reconvene. 7. IMPLICATIONS 7.1 NATIONAL OUTCOMES This relates to all nine national outcomes. 7.2 ASSOCIATED MEASURE(S) A weekly performance framework has been developed to track progress. 7.3 FINANCIAL This paper has been reviewed by Finance: Yes No N/A 7.4 RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK MANAGEMENT Risk IJB 09/21 sets out the impact of Covid on the roll out of the IJB’s Strategic Plan and is currently rated at very high. 7.5 PEOPLE The Strategic Planning Group has increased in frequency to quarterly throughout the pandemic to support engagement with staff, service users and carers and staff roadshows have also recommenced on a quarterly basis. 7.6 INEQUALITY & FAIRER SCOTLAND DUTY Yes No N/A 8. BACKGROUND PAPERS None. 9. APPENDICES None. ............................................................................. CHIEF OFFICER (or Depute) Members seeking further information about any aspect of this report, please contact Ross McGuffie on telephone number 01698 752 591.