Suspected Norovirus
Dear all
We unfortunately have suspected Norovirus at various services in Suffolk. The majority have been in the learning disability services which started in the Bury area, progressed to Sudbury, Hadleigh and Ipswich. It seems that some of the group homes may be sending people into services who have or have had symptoms, but not clear for 48 hours. This is preventing the virus from being contained. Please can everyone ensure that people refrain from work or service until symptom free for 48 hours.
I have added some Health Protection Agency documents onto our H&S website, Please can you download these and ensure you are clear about the cleaning regimes and products you need, and be prepared should you experience an outbreak in your service.
Some of the documentation from the HPA states that you should use unpowdered low protein latex gloves, in Suffolk County Council, we have been latex free for some years and unpowdered Nitrile gloves are an acceptable alternative to latex, so you should ensure you follow your own organisations policy.
http://www.sccpolicies.info/download.php?list.86
scroll down to the bottom and download the following documents, 6.2.218, 6.2.219, 6.2.214
Please keep the Health Protection Agency advised of outbreaks (01473 / 329583), so that they can monitor and provide advice to you.
FREE social care e-learning on end of life care
The free social care e-learning on end of life care can be accessed at
http://www.e-lfh.org.uk/projects/e-elca/register.html and access to e-ELCA is now available to all social care professionals whose employers are registered with the Skills for Care National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC). Some screen shots have been supplied to us so that social care staff can see what is available.
Every employer providing NMDS-SC workforce information to Skills for Care has been given a user registration code for their staff. This code enables you to self-register for access to e-ELCA. Please contact your employer for more details about the registration code. For information about registering your organisation with the NMDS-SC your employer should contact the Skills for Care Helpdesk on 0845 8730129.
If you have a registration code, you can register by visiting
http://www.e-lfh.org.uk/nmds-sc.
Suffolk County Council First Aid Procedures
Suffolk County Council have recently updated their first aid procedures for Adult and Community Services to take into account the changes in training for first aiders introduced last year. Suffolk County Council has a policy of sharing their procedures with the private and voluntary sector to encourage best practice. The documents can be accessed by clicking the link below and organisations are welcome to review the documents and amend them to make relevant to their own service.
http://www.sccpolicies.info/download.php?list.79
Autism Alert Card
Does someone who accesses your services have and Autistic Spectrum Condition? f you do you may already have been in a position where an individuals behaviour has not been fully understood and appreciated. A free credit card sized alert card is now available and can be carried by the individual at all times. It will provide others, such as emergency services, with details of the condition. For further information please
click here