Latest news

The Department of Health & Social Care have released a policy paper detailing their approach to health and social care this winter. It is available to read here: The health and social care approach to winter – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The…

The Proud to Care team have launched a new video which was made entirely by our care sector, who recorded all of the videos, music, and singing. It’s a celebration of social care and the hugely important work our carers…

On the 29th of November, South West Heritage Trust and Open Mental Health launched a project to collect people’s experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. They want to ensure stories of people, places, and communities during these difficult times are preserved…

South West Academic Health Science Network is proud to be working with Blue Stream Academy to launch online RESTORE2mini free training for every care professional RESTORE2 is a life-saving physical deterioration and escalation tool, used in nursing and care homes…

As many of you are aware the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on our ageing population across Somerset, we have seen not only a peak in deconditioning, but also increased social isolation and loneliness. To aid both professionals…

On the 11th of November the Somerset Foundation Trust hosted a virtual conference for HCAs, AHP Therapy Assistant and Support Workers. They have now made a recording available of two of the talks given by Professor Brian Dolan, on ‘Why…

The Queen’s Nursing Institute, supported by the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Deborah Sturdy OBE, and with a a grant from the Department for Health and Social Care, are launching a new network of Adult Social Care Infection Prevention…

The government announced on 9th November 2021 that, following the consultation that began in September, they will be introducing a requirement that all CQC-regulated health and social care workers who work face-to-face with service users while providing care must be…

The Department of Health & Social Care have published an independent review of the Adult Social Care Covid-19 Winter Plan for 2020-21. This report contains an overview of the plan and 33 recommendations, a number of which have been implemented…

DHSC have launched their Made with Care campaign, which is a national adult social care recruitment campaign to build a bigger and better workforce. This will be running from November 2021 to March 2022, and will celebrate the amazing work…

The Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will replace Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) from April 2022. Ahead of this change, the Social Care Institute for Excellence has released a number of resources about the change, including a ten minute video. For…

The CQC have published their annual report on the state of health and social care in England, looking at overall trends, examples of good and outstanding care, and highlighting where care needs to improve. Summary bullet points as well as…

Following the announcement of the additional £388.3m infection control and testing funding on the 30 September, Additional funding to help adult social care this winter – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) the Department of Health and Social Care published the guidance, conditions and…

On 21 October 2021, the Department for Health and Social Care announced that care homes and home care providers will benefit from a new £162.5 million workforce retention and recruitment fund to bolster the dedicated care workforce. Local authorities across…

The 15th and latest edition of the Somerset Safeguarding Adults Board’s (SSAB) newsletter is now available here (safeguardingsomerset.org.uk) This edition includes: News from the SSAB Annual Report for 2020-21 Published SSAB Self-Audit 2021 Guidance and leaflets Reminder: Your Adult Safeguarding…

Skills for Care have announced that the Workforce Development Fund is open for applications. The fund allows you to claim back money towards the costs of workers completing a broad range of adult social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital…

Somerset’s Public Health leaders are advising people to retest if they are still displaying Covid-19 symptoms after receiving a negative PCR test result. The advice follows the national announcement regarding the suspension of a laboratory processing Covid-19 PCR tests. In…

Public Health England have issued a press release regarding the booster vaccination program taking place this Autumn/Winter. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised that all those who were in priority groups 1-9 and were vaccinated during…

Throughout October and November, Skills for Care is putting the spotlight on retaining staff. Over the next two months they’ll be sharing information and ideas through blogs, articles, and social media posts to help care provdiers #RetainToGain.   Investing in staff…