We implemented Scottish Government guidance on Enhanced Professional Clinical and Care Oversight Of Care Homes from 18 May last week. This guidance stipulates that every Health Board and its Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) colleagues in the Local Authority must put in place a multi-disciplinary team comprised of senior professional roles. This team is responsible for providing support to each care home in their area, with particular focus on infection prevention and control, but also to provide appropriate expert clinical support to residents who have Coronavirus regarding:
- Care needs of individual residents;
- Infection prevention and control measures, including PPE and cleaning requirements;
- Staffing requirements including workforce training and deployment;
- Testing arrangements for outbreak management and ongoing surveillance
In South Ayrshire, the Chief Nursing Officer is overseeing the process and daily meetings are taking place. HSCP staff are arranging isits to all 26 care homes to provide assurance and support in relation to PPE, workforce, infection control procedures and basic care provision, and are linking in with the Care Inspectorate. Three visiting teams have been set up and
the first visit took place on Friday 22 May, with the remainder beginning from today.
Communication
We continue to post information and updates through the local media, in hard copy, on a range of social media channels such as South Ayrshire Council Live Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and on our website.