Oxfordshire County Council : Social Care Provider Engagement

My name is Marcia Bowden (Adult Social Care Service Improvement Officer). I am getting in touch with you today to inform you that Oxfordshire’s Adult Social Care (ASC) Teams are due to go live with a new Planned Temporary Variation Form on the 21^st October 2024.

What is a planned temporary variation?

Providers are only able to request planned temporary increases/decreases to care packages. A planned variation to care is when the provider knows, ahead of time, that the person will need some additional / less support. For instance, the informal carer is going into hospital for one night on X date and therefore additional support is required for that person to cover that night.

Providers can request a temporary variation to a persons care ranging from one visit up to a maximum of two weeks at a time. If it is an exceptional circumstance/situation and the variation to care needs to be for longer than two weeks, you must discuss this with the ASC worker at the time of your call, making it clear why longer than two weeks is required.

What does this new form mean for you as a provider?

This new form doesn’t change what you need to do as a provider with regards to planned temporary variations. If you identify a situation where a person requires more or less care, you must get in touch with Adult Social Care as soon as possible to make them aware of the planned change, we can’t accept changes to home care provisions retrospectively.

Once you have made the call to the relevant ASC Team to discuss the change required, the ASC worker will complete the new Planned Temporary Variation form on our recording system and send it for approval by the relevant ASC Manager (if appliable). Once approved, the ASC worker will send a PDF copy of the form to you for your records. Our Payments and Systems Data Team will send you the necessary contractual paperwork once the additional provision has been added to our recording system.

What do we need from you?

As mentioned above, temporary variations are planned a head of time, so please contact us as soon as possible to discuss any changes required to the person’s care package, whether that’s for an increase or a decrease.

Please also don’t forget to inform us as soon as possible if the person has gone into hospital as well, as we can ensure that our records and information are kept up to date.

Should you have any questions regarding this new form or process, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards

Marcia Bowden

Service Improvement Officer

Adult Social Care Service Improvement Team

Mobile: 07785762259

Email: marcia.bowden@oxfordshire.gov.uk

8 Oxfordshire’s Adult Social Care Information and Advice Hub (Public Portal) Portal Home (oxfordshire.gov.uk)

Dear care provider,

Please save the date for the next Workforce Roundtable.

Tuesday 5th November 2024

09.30am-15.00pm

Abingdon and Witney College, Abingdon Campus, Wootton Road, Abingdon, OX14 1GG

A finalised agenda will be shared shortly but topics will include:

OCC - A year in review

Training opportunities with Abingdon and Witney College

Skills for Care Strategy Development and Career Pathway update

An update on Care Friends and the new rewards available

International Recruitment Fund

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

Oxfordshire County Council

This November the Oxfordshire Men’s Health Partnership will be running their hashtag#30Chatsin30Days campaign, a campaign encouraging everyone to engage in 30 meaningful conversations with 30 people (ideally men) across the 30 days of November.

The partnership is also taking part in a series of events throughout November, including these Men’s Mental Health Talks in partnership with Oxfordshire Libraries.

These are free events and are open to all. Find out more here

Achieving period equality for all

Free period products are now available across the county for residents and staff in 18 libraries, eight children and family centres and 11 council offices, in a trial to help achieve period equality for all.

Get Online Week starts today. This annual digital inclusion campaign is run by Good Things Foundation.

The aim of the campaign is to help tens of thousands of people get online in just one week. Whether people want to start managing their money online, learn about online safety or gain basic digital skills for employment, free community events are held across the UK for people to get connected.

Digital inclusion is important because it:

• Ensures that all members of communities, including those at a disadvantage, can access key learning experiences.
• Helps everyone, especially historically excluded groups, to fully participate in the digital world.
• Bridges the gap between those who can easily navigate the online landscape and those who are left behind.
• Aims to dismantle existing social inequalities and enhance well-being for all.
• Provides opportunities, safety, and addresses issues like gender inequality and accessibility.

Last year during Get Online Week over 865 events were held, supporting over 16,000 people to cross the digital divide in seven days.

Many of our libraries are putting on events and sessions during the week, including support to help people use the library app and online book, audio, magazine and newspaper services. Age UK is also running sessions about scam awareness and there's even a digital story time.

You can find a full list of events online.

Green Libraries Week is between 7-13 October 2024, coordinated through CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library Information Professionals) and designed to celebrate how libraries pay a role in supporting climate and sustainability. The 2024 focus is on lifelong learning for all ages and how there is always something new for us to learn, change and adapt to, however small it may seem.

Here are just a few of the ways libraries are celebrating. Contact the individual library to find out more: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/libraries/find-library

• Burford and Bampton libraries are running a competition to design a book cover for the week. Winners will get book tokens, courtesy of the Friends. Deadline: 7.10.24.
• Headington Library is running a workshop on reducing food waste: 'Does your child know where our food comes from and why it matters?' Saturday 12 October 11am to 1pm.
• Kidlington Library welcomes Wild Oxfordshire who invite you to learn about local owls, bats, badgers and bugs! Craft your own owl mask or hanging bat; feel real owl feathers; see like an insect with the UV display; help a hedgehog. Saturday 12 October 10.30-11.30am. www.wildoxfordshire.gov.uk
• Thame Library is having a junk modelling day from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 12th October. What will you create - a Recycle Monster, a Repurpose Robot or an Egg Box Zoo?

More library events can be found here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/events?event_category=780&venue=

If you are not already aware, we have been asked to introduce Oxfordshire’s new EnergySaverApp, a tool designed to help individuals and organisations manage and reduce their energy consumption effectively.

We believe this app could be highly beneficial for your staff living in Oxfordshire and working for you.

It is available to all living in Oxfordshire with a smart meter.

Key Features of EnergySaverApp:

Real-time Energy Monitoring: Track energy usage in real-time to identify high-consumption periods.

Personalised Tips: Receive tailored advice on how to reduce energy consumption based on individual usage patterns.

Cost Savings: Implementing the app’s recommendations can lead to significant cost savings on energy bills.

Environmental Impact: Contribute to reducing our carbon footprint by adopting more sustainable energy practices.

We would appreciate it if you could share this information with your staff team in Oxfordshire.

For more information, please visit the EnergySaverApp’s website.

Spend less on your home energy bills - Energy Saver App

For a vulnerable person, living in a cold home increases their chance of serious illness or death. They are at higher risk of a heart attack or stroke, breathing problems, flu, depression and falls.

This effect occurs not just in extreme winter weather but also in moderate conditions and particularly when outdoor temperature drops below 6oC. For those with care needs, being housebound increases both the exposure to an underheated home and the cost of heating it.

SCIE have produced a handy guide fro Home care managers to support vulnerable people who may be enduring underheated homes. You can read more here.

Oxford Brookes University is proud to celebrate Black History Month in October 2024. Everyone is welcome to the events and resources to support learning, connection and awareness.

Keynote speaker

Trevor Sterling

Quitting smoking this Stoptober - Its Well Worth It!!

We are running a joint Stoptober campaign with Stop For Life Oxon and it has the Well Worth It tag line!

So...better late than never, here is the campaign toolkit and all the resources to help support the month of Stoptober.