COVID 19 VACCINATIONS AND GUIDANCE

This page provides you with information that will be helpful to you with regards to vaccinations and guidance on COVID 19. We have also included some of our own practical experiences when using these services.

Vaccinations

COVID-19 Vaccine Programme Communications Toolkit to Support Vaccine Uptake in Adult Social Care

Access to vaccinations for COVID 19

Covid-19 Vaccination Contact Database

Useful forms

Blank form of staff names

Sheffield Social Care Employer submissions

Guidance

Institute for Registered Case Managers (IRCM) COVID19 Guidance

Guidance from Dorset CCG

Guidance from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Covid Vaccination Frontline Staff

Manchester based healthcare workers

Members Experience

‘I have made a complaint to DHSC regarding the national accessibility to companies that are registered in one county and have support teams nationwide. I was asked to join a meeting today where the DHSC, NHS, ADAS, LGA, HCA were all trying to find a solution to this problem.

There are going to be communications sent to each local authority to accept eligibility from other local authorities – so where we are registered in Warwickshire, we can use this eligibility to access vaccinations in other areas. There is going to be a National Booking Service that the support teams will be able to contact to book their vaccinations in their locality. This service was trialled last week and may be available as soon as next week – but I am just waiting on the timescales for this.

All local authorities will also be obliged to provide contact details on their website for their vaccination teams so that providers who are eligible can contact them’

Blackpool

‘We were able to access the vaccine for a client’s directly recruited support team for a client based in Preston via Blackpool hospital. The contact email is: Blackpool.ccg.admin@nhs.net’

Bristol

‘I was given my first vaccine yesterday (Oxford-Astra Zeneca). I was fortunate my GP raised it with me during a telephone consultation and asked me to attend. I come under Bristol CCG’.

Bury

‘We are based in Bury and are CQC registered which meant the support staff employed by ourselves received their first vaccine via our contact at Bury. The details are: Name: Joanne Green, Phone: 07881037424 – this phone line is only open 9.30am -11.00am and 3pm-4pm, Email joannegreen12@nhs.net’

Derbyshire

‘I contacted my local GPs who didn’t want to know.

I contacted my local CCG (Derbyshire) and they sent me a link to book the vaccination within 1 hour – See Access to vaccinations above for link.

I recommend contacting CCG’s with a covering letter as I did’

Devon

Our experience:

Some GPs are proactively contacting patients and asking for info re any who are frontline
Other GPs are being clear they are not involved at all, when contacted by patients who are frontline
LA co-ordinators have contacted us- based on the location of our HO (Devon) as a CQC reg company, to offer slots for vaccinations, but those slots are of course local to our HO and we cover a much wider geographic area
Most areas are being co-ordinated by LAs- but some are not ie Cornwall- CCG are co-ordinating there
LAs/CCGs who commission us have identified us and been in touch
We have been advised by our local LA co-ordinator that it is possible we could slip through the net if we have frontline workers in areas other than where are registered and we are not being commissioned direct by stat funders. We have therefore made contact with every local authority- via their websites, so alert them to our existence . we are being advised- be patient- not everyone eligible can be first in the queue for a vaccine!
Every authority is doing things slightly differently operationally
Wales are doing things differently again, but it is via CIW reg manager

The key is making yourselves known in each area’

Durham

‘I contacted my CCG in Durham last Friday asking for advice, and I had a response within 15 minutes and had my first vaccination the following day!

This is the email that I sent to them, which may be of benefit to others:

Dear Clinical Commissioning Group,

I understand that JCVI have confirmed that the COVID vaccine should be available to frontline health professionals in all areas of work, including independent work.

I am an independent Brain Injury Case Manager working with children and young people who have experienced a brain injury. I manage their care packages and ensure that my Clients have access to rehabilitation, in both the client’s home and educational environment. I live in County Durham and cover all areas of the North East and North West.

The links below, to both the HCPC advice and the NHS England guidelines indicate the guidance of frontline health and care workers being vaccinated.

https://www.hcpc-uk.org/covid-19/vaccinations-what-you-need-to-know/

Coronavirus » COVID-19 vaccination programme (england.nhs.uk)

My HCPC Number is :

MY BABICM Number is:

Please can you take this letter as evidence that I am a HCPC registered Physiotherapist working as a Brian Injury Case Manager providing essential health care and advise me on how I can obtain a vaccination’.

Kent

‘I wrote to the GP surgery of each support worker (with their consent), explaining they worked with vulnerable clients providing hands on care. I have 6 support workers working with my clients and all but one were offered the jab immediately. The one that hasn’t been is with a Medway GP, the 5 that have are with Kent GPs (Medway is a unitary authority). The Medway one told the support worker is it a supply issue there.’

Oxford

‘I was advised in my other Expert Witness role with Somek and Associates to contact my GP as an independent practitioner (as advised by RCOT) and had my vaccine booked in the next day’

Scotland

Therapists/case managers

‘It was difficult to access any information at all about this. We tried our own GPs who were not able to offer us the vaccine and directed us to public health. We didn’t get anywhere with this as we were repeatedly told ‘you have to be on a list’ so we were in a catch 22 situation.

Eventually an NHS colleague shared a local health authority email with us in which there was a link for healthcare professionals to access the vaccine at any one of the local hospitals. We were able to book appointments following a link within the email.

Once we had appointments, it was a matter of turning up. There was no waiting time and everything was running efficiently and smoothly. We were not required to show ID, it was just a matter of our names being on the list – we were initially worried that we might be turned away without an NHS ID. 2/3 of us experienced a significant discomfort with flu like symptoms overnight followed by a headache and being wiped out the next day.

Care staff

We have a mixture of paid employed carers and agency carers, and also family carers and each had to be dealt with differently. Also, our teams are based in different local authorities each with a different protocol. We have spend significant additional case management hours over the past couple of months in dealing with access to testing, the vaccine and on top of that managing client and carer’s anxiety and adherence to risk strategies.

Agency carers were the easiest as we were able to pass responsibility to the agency managers who managed to access the vaccine. For our privately employed carers, we tried their own GPs, writing to explain they were not on a key worker list as they worked outside the statutory services. The GPs were helpful gatekeepers and did the research to find out where to go next. In one authority we were put through to Public Health who took the carer’s ‘case’ to a vaccine group meeting, only to reject the request. However, we were then given information from another GP in which it was clear that one of the criteria for key workers getting access to the vaccine was if they were caring for a person with a severe neurodisability. We went back to the vaccine group with that information, and when they next met they decided that our carer did meet the criteria after all and she was given access to the vaccine. We subsequently highlighted the words ‘severe neurodisability’ in our emails regarding other carers.

With family carers we were told they would have to wait until the next tranche of people after the key workers were done.

We also received information that we could apply through local councils/social work teams for rapid testing kits, each carer could receive a box of rapid tests that they could use before each shift, and replenish once they ran out. They had to be working with clients who were in receipt of some element of direct payment support, we are in the process of just following up on this now‘

Southend-on-Sea

after contacting local CCG, they were unable to advise on where and how to get a vaccine.
I contacted my own GP and I was informed that my name was put on the list for a vaccine, so I should get a call soon. I was then contacted by the receptionist and booked for a vaccine the following day. Unfortunately they sent me to the wrong place and I was refused to be vaccinated, as they were only giving the vaccine to people over 65.
We were then made aware of the app Covid.Shiftpartner Appointments https://covid.shiftpartner.com/sign-in – where Staff working in Social Care can register for a vaccine. This on-line system allows you to create an account and book an appointment at your nearest available Vaccination Centre (that is for Mid and South Essex). I know that a lot of staff from the teams that I manage, were able to access it and book their vaccination. Staff should have their work ID badge with them when they attend their appointment, as otherwise they may be refused the vaccine.
I have also written a confirmation letter for all the staff stating the nature of their job, as some of their Gp Surgeries required that to put them on the list.
I was also able to book a vaccine or my Client. It was a long journey as at first he was not issued with a letter from NHS for extremely vulnerable people. His Surgery was not very helpful and the practice manager was not responding to our calls or emails. However, after I contacted the local CCG about it, they sent that letter the same day. I then contacted the Surgery a few days later and asked about the vaccine for my client. They were surprised he was not on the list and told me they did not think he was that old (my client will be 70 in 2 months time). They immediately put him on the list and he got his vaccine the following day.
In my experience younger clients with TBI may not be automatically put on the priority list, so I would advise all managers to contact Client’s Gp Surgeries to ensure they are aware of their condition. I have a younger client with TBI in Kent and we are still ‘fighting’ for his NHS letter and having on-going talks with his Surgery to place him on priority list.
I was also told by a Medical Practitioner from my Client’s Surgery, that the Salvation Army will be running clinics in Essex, to vaccinate Care Staff – and we were advised to contact our Client’s Surgery to book appointments for them. However, some Surgeries are not aware of that – so this is still something that we are exploring. I think it is worth checking in other parts of England.

Suffolk

‘I simply contacted my GP via the online portal “Ask My GP” to advise them of my occupation and profession and asked them to code my records accordingly to be picked up as a key / frontline worker, as being self employed I would otherwise get missed. They asked for proof, so I sent them a screen shot of my HCPC registration and a letter from Ben Holden Ltd stating what we did. No further questions and I have had my first vaccine, as have others that did the same process.

For directly employed support staff, I wrote to each of their GPS saying the same and they have all been vaccinated too.’

No real issues at all.’

Telford

Commissioning, Procurement and Brokerage Service Delivery Manager at Telford – sent her message with this link Book a coronavirus vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk) and asked if they could assist. Still waiting for a response following
Accountable Officer NHS Shropshire CCG and NHS Telford & Wrekin CCG – told me staff would receive a letter nearer time asking them to contact to make an appointment.
Health Secretary who directed me to Depart of Health and Social Care, who provided with the following link UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan.
NHSE England who provided me with https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-a-guide-for-social-care-staff/covid-19-vaccination-a-guide-for-social-care-staff and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-consent-form-and-letter-for-social-care-staff
Future NHS Team – who said they could not deal with my query.
https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=oKtgpiGaoUyJm5sDLJcBLN3tOnXjIoNLsVbSj9Pc6KVUMkE0SzdPSkExUk1DNDA2T1lESEhUUEhGWC4u (SEE ATTACHED).

Wales

https://gov.wales/get-your-covid-19-vaccination-if-you-think-you-have-been-missed

(we are not registered as we have less than 5 clients in Wales and therefore informed we do not need to register)

Immunisation Team who forwarded my email to Public Health Wales: They confirmed our staff qualify and advised to contact our LAs for each of the clients and explain staff provide frontline care staff.
Contacted Caerphilly County Borough Council – link with one of our clients: Informed he had been sent a proforma for his CCBC staff within his team which he needed to complete – he said he will get in touch with further guidance when he knows more (not heard).
One member of a team of 6 have in Wrexham received their vaccine, however this person happened to be at her asthma appt with GP and asked the question – he sent her as link to book appt. Remainder of team were advised to try link and to contact GP – neither have worked.
Agency contact in Wales (were given link to register their staff via Hywel Dda Health Board).

Warwickshire

I have made a complaint to DHSC regarding the national accessibility to companies that are registered in one county and have support teams nationwide. I was asked to join a meeting today where the DHSC, NHS, ADAS, LGA, HCA were all trying to find a solution to this problem.

All local authorities will also be obliged to provide contact details on their website for their vaccination teams so that providers who are eligible can contact them.

Watford

‘I attended Watford FC this morning following the guidance you provided and was promptly given the first dose of the vaccine. It was superbly managed and set up precisely for people like me working outside the statutory sector. I can recommend the process at Watford FC it to anyone considering using it for the vaccination’

Wigan

‘I attempted to contact my local authority Wigan Council, Health & Social Care, on several occasions by phone / email with no response received. I also spoke with my GP practice and was advised they are only vaccinating according to the age group.’