Recommendation 48

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

The government partially accepts this recommendation. Preparations within adult social care have been, and will continue to be, an integral component of the government’s pandemic preparedness agenda. The capability and capacity of the Social Care Group within DHSC has grown since early 2020, now having a dedicated Director General to lead its work. A Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care was also appointed in December 2020 to provide professional leadership to the workforce as well as providing professional advice across the sector and raising the status and standards of social care nursing. The COVID-19 Social Care dashboard was launched on 22 October 2020 as a single point of information to support local, regional, and national government to understand where infection is taking place and to ascertain rapidly the measures being implemented to reduce it. As part of the ‘Adult Social Care Winter Plan 2020 to 2021’16 the Department set up a Regional Assurance Team, comprising people with significant experience within the adult social care sector, who provide direct engagement between DHSC and regional stakeholders. COVID-19 guidance for adult social care is reviewed in consultation with UKHSA, and other partners and providers to ensure guidance for the sector is clear, understandable, and well-informed by sector partners. As guidance is updated, DHSC will continue to test it with end-users to ensure it better equips care providers, care workers, commissioners, and care recipients. The Social Care Sector COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by Sir David Pearson, formed an important part of DHSC’s response to COVID-19 in the social care sector. Its remit was to ensure the delivery of the measures outlined in the government’s ‘Social Care 16 Adult social care: our COVID-19 winter plan 2020 to 2021 – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-coronavirus-covid-19-winter-plan- 2020-to-2021/adult-social-care-our-covid-19-winter-plan-2020-to-2021) Action Plan’17 (April 2020) and ‘Care Home Support Package’18 (May 2020); the latter was supported by the £600 million Infection Control Fund. The Taskforce played an important part in ensuring DHSC did all it could to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the sector, both for those who rely on care and support and for the social care workforce, and it ensured preparedness for the second wave of COVID-19. The Taskforce ran until the end of August 2020 and reported on its findings and recommendations19 in September 2020, which helped shape the ‘Adult Social Care Winter Plan 2020 to 2021’. The Taskforce’s successor, the Social Care COVID-19 Stakeholder Group also chaired by Sir David Pearson, undertook a review of the 2020 to 2021 winter plan, and made 33 recommendations, which were incorporated by the Department in the subsequent Adult Social Care Winter Plan 2021 to 2022,20 which provided a response to each of the recommendations in its annex. Those findings and recommendations that the Taskforce and subsequent Stakeholder Group made that were not fully reflected in the Winter Plan 2021 to 2022 have helped shape DHSC’s planning for the future. DHSC worked closely with the NHS to ensure that its ‘Adult Social Care Winter Plan 2021 to 2022’ was co-ordinated and integrated. The plan, published on 3 November 2021, focused not just on COVID-19, but also on other viruses such as flu and norovirus, to ensure that those who receive social care were protected over the winter. DHSC does not currently plan to re-instate the Taskforce. However, DHSC continues to work with all organisations represented on the Taskforce, who advise and support delivery of DHSC policy. DHSC’s stakeholders have been instrumental in shaping guidance that seeks to enable people to live as safely as possible, whilst maintaining contacts and activity that enhance the health and wellbeing of service users and their family carers. 17 Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult social care action plan – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-social-care-action-plan) 18 Care home support package – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-care- homes/coronavirus-covid-19-care-home-support-package) 19 Social care sector Covid-19 support taskforce report on first phase of the pandemic – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-sector-covid-19-support-taskforce-report-on- first-phase-of-covid-19-pandemic) 20 Adult social care: COVID-19 winter plan 2021 to 2022 – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-coronavirus-covid-19-winter-plan- 2021-to-2022/adult-social-care-covid-19-winter-plan-2021-to-2022)