Pivotal role in keeping the most vulnerable safe in Calderdale care homes

The crucial role of adult social care in Calderdale has been revealed by the coronavirus crisis.
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Calderdale Council has played a pivotal role but keeping some of Calderdale’s most vulnerable residents and the staff who care for them as safe as possible has very much been a collective effort.

Director of Adults Services and Wellbeing, Iain Baines, said in addition to its own social care operations it was providing extra support to partner organisations including extra staff, sourcing and supplying Personal Protection Equipment for social care staff including those working in care homes, and providing extra staff or funding to pay for agency staff if they are needed.

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As well as keeping staff and patients as safe as possible providing emotional support is another key role whether that is assuring staff PPE will be there or helping them cope if those cared for pass away – by April 24, 19 people had died in care settings in Calderdale with coronavirus considered to be a factor.

Calderdale Council's Director of Adults Services and Wellbeing, Iain BainesCalderdale Council's Director of Adults Services and Wellbeing, Iain Baines
Calderdale Council's Director of Adults Services and Wellbeing, Iain Baines

“Behind that are real people with relatives and people around them grieving.

“Our role would be supporting the homes and their staff emotionally,” said Mr Baines.

Not losing site of the human cost of the pandemic has seen the council and all its care partners working together, sharing supplies of PPE and helping each other.

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At the most difficult of times, that is a source of pride for Calderdale, said Mr Baines, who started work in a care home when he was 19 and 40 years on heads the council’s own 900-strong team.

“This has been the toughest of times but one of my proudest of times – the work people are doing is amazing.

“We are dealing with a scale I don’t think anybody could have imagined but by working together we are doing the right thing by Calderdale and its people.

“This is where our vision of place, around kindness and resilience has come to the fore.

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“You are not seeing providers saying ‘I’m alright Jack’ – they are working together to make sure no-one is put at risk.

“I’m so proud of Calderdale,” he said.

Mr Baines said those providing adult social care were often “unsung heroes.”

At any point in the year the council were supporting around 2,700 people with some level of care, whether someone supported to go into residential care, receive care in their home or attend a day centre.

In any one week the council probably delivers itself or through commissioned services around 14,000 hours of home care, and works with 65 organisations providing residential care and 53 providing home care support, with around 5,700 people working in social care directly.

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It commissions around 1,500 care beds, more than double that of Calderdale and Kirklees hospitals.

On top of that, the directorate has taken a lead on the council to provide help and care to residents identified by Government as being extremely mdedically vulnerable and has made contact with 2,815 out of 3,557 them, proving them with appropriate support, doubling the number of people the council supports.

Mr Baines said: “I have staff working shifts seven days a week making sure people are getting the right support in terms of food, medicine or who are socially isolated – some of those people wouldn’t normally be supported by social care.”

Calderdale Council staff are in touch with care homes and other providers on a daily basis and support to care providers the council commissions services from includes sourcing PPE and even providing staff or payments for agency staff if illness leads to staff shortages.

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As of April 24, the council was working with nine homes who are people showing symptoms of coronavirus or where there have been positive results.

“When we get access to testing the numbers might start to look different,” he said.

The council has been supporting testing work at a local site and a regional one at Leeds.

“It is important to stress what that test is, it works for peolole who are showing symptoms,” said Mr Baines.

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Mr Baines’ team also support primary care providers, for example GP surgeries.

Sourcing and supplying Personal Protective Equipment to keep people working in social care safe in Calderdale has seen the council supporting other care providers.

A collective effort in Calderdale has also seen providers sharing supplies of equipment to make sure people are protected as much as possible in the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Baines, said the council is working with care providers to make sure a 72-hour supply of PPE is available.

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“We hope to ensure that at any one time each provider in social care and primary care – such as GPs – has at least 72 hours of PPE at any one time.

“What makes the industry nervous is if stocks go below 24-hour provision.

“We are starting to get the regular supply by a mix of regular suppliers and using new offers where they meet standard, or helping providers by informing them what the standards are so they can make them,” said Mr Baines.

PPE is essential equipment to enable care to be undertaken, with many duties difficult to carry out with the need to abide by social distancing measures during the COVID-19 outbreak, said Mr Baines. This includes ensuring all carers and those sub-contracted had access to it, he added.

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Calderdale’s partnership with the West Yorkshire Resilience Forum had resulted in a number of large scale drops of PPE and staff from his own directorate and leisure centre staff worked together to get the equipment out as soon as possible.