Oxfordshire County Council : Social Care Provider Engagement

1. Care Hom2. CAREHOME Manager letter.docxes Resident letter.docxHCP Leaflet FINAL.pdfPt Leaflet FINAL.pdfUrology referral form FINAL.docx

Dear Care home colleagues,

Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire Integrated Commissioning Board (BOB ICB) have commissioned a prescribing service which transfers the prescribing from GP practices to a dedicated service run by Bullen Healthcare. The service will look after the prescribing of urology (catheter) and stoma products for people who are currently using products such as stoma pouches, stoma accessories, catheters (both long-term and intermittent) sheaths, leg and night bags and trans-anal irrigation products and associated ancillary products.

GP practice in the BOB ICB area will be transferring their patient list to the service in a staggered manner over the next couple of weeks and months to enable the service to onboard patients in a manageable way.

From Monday 6^th October all patients from the following practices will have their stoma, catheter and trans anal irrigation products prescribed by the service *excluding patients who currently obtain their prescriptions from the West Berkshire Continence service:

Existing Appliance users

From Monday 6^th October all patients from the following practices will have their bladder and bowel products prescribed by the service *excluding patients who currently obtain their prescriptions from the West Berkshire Continence service:

From Monday 6^th October 2025 onwards, the Appliance Management Service will call your care home for patients registered at the above GP Practices to introduce the service, answer any questions, and confirm which appliances are needed by residents who use them. The service will continue to contact your care home each month to repeat this process, ensuring residents receive their appliances promptly and any issues are identified early.

If you any queries, please contact the service at prescriptionservice.bhg@nhs.net in the first instance.

We will write to you again with details of further practices who have transferred prescribing of these products to the new service.

All new patients discharged from hospitals in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West with these products will be discharged to the new service. If, however, a patient arrives from an out of area hospital, a referral form is attached to enable the care home to refer the patient to the service.

Please note that requests for all other prescription items (medicines, eye drops, inhalers etc) is not affected by this service and you should continue to order such items in the usual way.

Please find attached a range of information relating to the new Appliance Prescription Management Service

1. Care Homes Resident letter
2. CAREHOME Manager letter
3. Patient leaflet
4. Health Care Professionals leaflet – this is for yourself and dissemination to your colleagues, so they have some information about the service
5. Referral Form for use by any nursing or care homes to register new patients to the service. It can be emailed through to prescriptionservice.bhg@nhs.net as the form is editable.

Best Regards

BOB ICB Medicines Optimisation Team

Anum Mahmood

Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board

Usual working days: Tuesday to Friday (9am - 2.30pm)

E: anum.mahmood@nhs.net Web: bucksoxonberksw.icb.nhs.uk

M: 07595481748

Office address: Amersham Hospital, Whielden Street, Amersham HP7 0JD

Generic inbox bobicb.medicines@nhs.net

From 29 October 2025 if you drive a car you will need a permit to drive along the following roads:

Without a permit you may be charged £5 per day.

All the details about the scheme and how to apply for permits right now can be found About the congestion charge | Oxfordshire County Council

The Department of Health and Social Care’s successful ‘Make Care Your Career’ campaign returns this October to connect passionate people with rewarding roles in care.

The campaign will launch in October and run to March 2025. Adverts will feature everyday moments between real care workers and recipients and will highlight the rewarding nature of care work and the career progression opportunities available. The adverts will appear across a wide range of channels and reach millions of people. The aim is to inspire jobseekers with the right values to visit the campaign website and apply for roles in their local area.

During the last campaign we saw increased interest in adult social care roles, so make sure you take advantage of the upcoming phase of advertising by:

Posting your vacancies on the campaign website – it’s quick, easy and ensures jobseekers who’ve seen the advertising can apply for your roles.

• Timing your recruitment activities with the campaign – plan job fairs, open days, or recruitment drives during the campaign period when more people will be thinking about care careers.

• Using the campaign resources at no cost – access free posters, social media posts and other templates to help your job adverts stand out
• Adding the campaign logo to your recruitment materials – feature the recognisable ‘Make Care your Career’ badge on your job adverts so applicants immediately connect you with the national campaign they’ve seen advertised.

To find out more and access the campaign resources, visit

https://www.adultsocialcare.co.uk/recruit.aspx

You can also use this link to access the guidance on how to upload a job

https://www.adultsocialcare.co.uk/include/documents/125/Find-a-Job-One-Page-PDF-Guide.pdf

Dear care provider,

Please save the date for the next Workforce Roundtable.

Tuesday 7^th October 2025

09.30am-15.00pm

voco Oxford Thames Hotel, Henley Rd, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford, OX4 4GX

A finalised agenda will be shared shortly.

To register your attendance please complete the Microsoft Form via the link below. You will then be sent the calendar invite with a more detailed agenda to follow.

Register Here

Best Wishes,

Evie Bennett

Apprenticeship and Engagement Lead (Health and Social Care)

Strategy & Innovation Team – Health, Education and Social Care Commissioning (HESC)

Oxfordshire County Council

evie.bennett@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Call me on Teams

Tues 2^nd Sept 2-3.15pm *BOOK NOW:* https://forms.office.com/e/he8YxJR04Y

*OR*

Weds 5^th Nov 2-3.15pm *BOOK NOW:* https://forms.office.com/e/H2zPr1mtDi

Online via MS Teams

The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) helps providers to manage their workforce data and provides crucial intelligence to key decision makers such as Government, DHSC, CQC and local authorities. It also gives employers access to safe and free management of staff and training records and the ability to benchmark your workplace against similar providers. More info can be found here: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Adult-Social-Care-Workforce-Data/Adult-Social-Care-Workforce-Data-Set/Adult-Social-Care-Workforce-Data-Set.aspx

The Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme from the DHSC is providing funding under the LDSS to support learning and development for ‘non-regulated care staff’, including deputy and Care Quality Commission (CQC)-registered managers and agency staff, in England for financial year 2025 to 2026. Eligible ASC employers can claim funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. This funding is for eligible courses and qualifications that have been both paid for and started between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-learning-and-development-support-scheme

Having an up to date ASC-WDS account is a condition of the LDSS funding.

If you are interested to know more about ASC-WDS, are planning to update your account, haven’t looked at it for a while or want to claim the Learning and Development Support Service funding then this is the session for you! Come along to have a live guided tour and hear all about the many benefits and ask any questions. The session will be hosted by Rachel Reid, Marianne Davis Skills for Care locality Managers in Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire.

This is a local session for providers across the South East.

​

We are very pleased to be able to offer CPD-accredited Very Brief Advice (VBA) Stop Smoking Training. This course is suitable for those who come into contact with smokers to confidently ask smoking status, advise on local support and refer to SmokeFree Oxon. These sessions will provide an overview of smoking at a national context, the components of a cigarette, nicotine replacement therapy products, vapes, the health benefits for quitting, a look into the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT), and the 3 A’s (ask, advise, act).

Contact the team for more information! SmokeFreeOxon.S4H@nhs.net Call 0800 772 3673 | SmokeFreeOxon.co.uk

Dear colleagues,

I’m writing to share an update on the funeral for firefighter Martyn Sadler following the tragic incident at Bicester Motion in May.

As you’re aware, Martyn’s funeral will take place on Thursday 31 July in Bicester.

Councillors Hannaby, Leffman and Lygo, alongside Stephen Chandler, Lorna Baxter and I, will represent the county council at a public procession for Martyn. We will join other organisational representatives and dignitaries to witness this from the forecourt at Bicester Fire Station.

Martyn’s procession will start at 10.45am and will make its way down Queen’s Avenue towards the station where there will be a pause and a minute silence. In line with his family’s wishes, Martyn will be carried on London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) Turntable Ladder with the route lined from Queen’s Avenue by firefighters in fire kit and our emergency service partners in uniform.

As many of you know, Martyn dedicated his career not only to Oxfordshire, but also to Royal Berkshire and London Fire Brigade. All three brigades will be part of lining the procession route. Rob MacDougall, together with the LFB fire commissioner and chief fire officer of Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, will lead the observation of the minute silence.

Martyn’s procession will then continue towards St Edburg’s Church where a private service will take place for invited family, friends and colleagues. Our fire service will join standard bearers from national brigades, and other fire associated organisations, in lining a route for Martyn to enter the church, lowering their flags as Martyn passes through.

In support, we will also lower our flags at fire stations and at County Hall to half-mast on Thursday morning and will then raise them again that evening.  

Members of the public, councillors and colleagues are welcome to witness the procession and line the route should they wish to pay their respects. For those who choose to witness the minute silence at the fire station, they will be directed to do so on the opposite side of the road to the forecourt. Signposting to the online condolence book continues and is open and available to all.

Surrounding roads will be closed from 9.45am (local residents and businesses are being informed) and people are being advised to use public transport and to plan ahead with this in mind.

May I take this opportunity to thank all colleagues involved in supporting our fire service to deliver a memorable and dignified tribute to Martyn in line with his family’s wishes.

Best wishes,

Martin

Martin Reeves

Chief Executive

We are very pleased to announce that from 1^st August 2025, Oxford Health will deliver Oral Health Services in Oxfordshire. This will include oral health promotion, training for professionals, setting accreditation, and providing information and community support to reduce oral health inequalities.

The team will collaborate closely partners to improve oral health across the county, including working with Early Years settings to implement the Supervised Tooth Brushing programme. A key national priority set out in the recently published 10 Year Health Plan for England is to improve children’s oral health.

The Oral Health Improvement Team is part of the Oxfordshire Community Dental Service within Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

From the 1st August 2025 the contact details for the Oral Health Service will be:

Website: www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/cds

Tel: (01865) 904040

Email: Oral.Health@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Oral health | Oxfordshire County Council also offers general guidance for maintaining healthy teeth and mouths.