Written question WQ82945

As noted in my response to WQ82937, officials are currently evaluating the annual plans recently submitted by Health Boards and NHS Trusts, to ensure they align with the objectives of the ‘Health and Social Care in Wales COVID-19: Looking Forward’ report. My expectation is that in planning for both winter pressures and service recovery, there will be a continuing focus on integration of health and social care, with regional partnership boards supporting the seamless delivery of services.

The sufficiency of staff to provide domiciliary care services was a challenge prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and we are aware of significant current pressures. The impact of staff self-isolating and increases in demand being experienced now, and projected as continuing for some months to come, means there will be substantial challenges in providing care at home over the winter months.

We are, therefore, taking forward a range of actions to support recruitment into the social care sector. This includes Social Care Wales’ ‘WeCare Wales’ campaign and jobs portal, plus wider actions to improve recruitment in the medium term. Importantly, this includes improvements to the terms and conditions of staff working in social care, such as our commitment to the Real Living Wage which we will be taking forward jointly with the Social Care Fair Work Forum. In addition, officials have worked with key stakeholders to develop a range of provision to support the health and wellbeing of the care workforce.

Given the impact on both mental health and general well-being, decisions to restrict visiting in care homes have not been taken lightly over the last year but they have been considered necessary to protect care homes and those living and working in them from the risk of COVID-19 infection.

In consultation with Public Health Wales, we have updated our guidance for visiting care homes regularly throughout the pandemic. The most recent update came into force on the 19 July. We will continue to keep the guidance under review to ensure it strikes the right balance between protecting people from COVID-19 and promoting their health and well-being through vital contact with their loved ones.

To ensure the safety of both staff and residents in care homes, the Welsh Government has committed to providing free PPE to social care for the duration of the pandemic; a procurement and supply plan, which will take us through to Spring 2022, is currently being finalised and details will be confirmed shortly.

Testing in care homes and amongst the wider social care workforce has and continues to be an important measure to help us protect our most vulnerable citizens. We are keeping our current testing measures under review and continue to consider the evidence provided by our Technical Advisory Group in relation to the impact of vaccination on transmission rates.

In terms of hospital discharge arrangements, the updated guidance we issued in December remains current. We expect the Discharge to Recover then Assess (D2RA) approach to continue. The focus remains on getting people home from hospital as soon as possible (or to another suitable setting if that is not possible) with suitable support for recovery before assessments for longer term needs.

Rehabilitation is a core component of pre-discharge care and has been the focus of our planning and response to the impacts of the coronavirus including winter protection planning. Health boards, local authorities and third sector partners, are using the Welsh Government’s National Rehabilitation Framework and underpinning rehabilitation guidance to plan the rehabilitation services required to respond to the needs of their populations.

Allied Health Professionals are being deployed in community intermediate care, reablement and rehabilitation settings to meet the D2RA approach to reducing hospital stay and moving care closer to home.