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Visiting guidance in health and social care settings recognises that visits to those nearing the end of life are deemed essential and as such we would expect those working in clinical settings to accommodate such visits where it is safe to do so. It is important to note that the guidance relating to visiting patients in end of life situations, both in hospitals and care homes does not restrict visits to family members from the same household. This provision has been in place since restricted visiting was introduced.

However, in light of the continued progress being made in suppressing the virus, we have recently relaxed the visiting restrictions previously in place across hospitals and care homes. New visiting guidance was released for care homes and hospitals on the 28th and 30th June respectively, which will allow visits in these care settings to resume safely and in a series of phases.

For convenience this guidance can be found here under the Health, Care and Social Work section.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £12.6 million in funding to continue the provision of food to families eligible for free school meals during the course of the school summer holidays.

We recognise that direct cash payments will work well for many families and we have written to local authorities suggesting they consider using cash payments as one of a range of options when deciding on methods for alternative provision to free school meals during the current summer holidays.

Whilst we know there are many advantages to issuing cash payments, such as giving recipients the flexibility to shop with their preferred retailer, it is also important that we continue to afford local authorities the flexibility they need to respond to the individual needs within their local communities and to ensure that no-one is left disadvantaged by a one size fits all approach.

The national clinical and practice guidance for adult care homes which was first published on 13 March and updated on 26 March and 15 May, recognises the need for additional staffing within care homes to manage the impact of COVID-19. The guidance suggests that additional staff are likely to be required to support measures such as shielding, physical distancing and caring for those being isolated to support and enable compliance with Infection Prevention Control measures including the need for enhanced cleaning schedules to reduce transmission of infection are essential at this time.

Care home providers are responsible for ensuring adequate staffing to care for residents and carry out enhanced cleaning schedules drawing on their contingency plans at this time to meet the needs of individuals. If the Care Inspectorate becomes aware of peoples’ needs not being met by there not being enough staff, it can require the service to act to improve this. The Care Inspectorate retain the discretion to impose conditions about staffing, or any other matter, on any individual care service where that is necessary to ensure people experience high quality care.

To support care homes to identify staffing requirements during COVID, a safety huddle template and professional judgment template have been developed in conjunction with the care home sector and should be used to help care homes identify residents’ care need and associated staffing requirements. This can also be used to identify where changes to skill mix and additional clinical input is required to support the changing needs or complexity of residents. The safety huddle template should be used on a daily basis to enable care homes to identify and escalate concerns. The template is designed to reduce the need to collect multiple sources of information as the information in the template can be used to inform the Care Inspectorate staffing ‘rag status’, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Public Health requirements.

Where there are staffing challenges, care homes will be supported as necessary by local partners such as NHS Boards and Local Authorities. In addition, the Scottish Government has been working to get students and social care retirees and returners into social care as quickly as possible, and working with partners to support care homes to recruit additional staff. Employers now have direct access to a recruitment portal developed by the NHS Education Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council enabling quick and effective redeployment of care workers. A number of staff have already been matched for work in care homes or care at home under the new portal and more will be joining them in the coming weeks.

In terms of additional resource, I confirmed on 12 May that an initial £50 million would be provided to help the social care sector deal with the financial implications of the pandemic. This funding will be released by local authorities through local Mobilisation plans and will allow cash to flow to those parts of the social care sector where additional costs, such as staffing costs, have been incurred, particularly in care home and care at home services.

My answer to S5W-29119 on 17 June 2020 outlines how national guidance recognises the need for additional staffing within care homes to manage the impacts of COVID-19 and support residents. The guidance also recognises that reduced activity among residents decreases muscle mass and functional decline which is heightened in the elderly population. Whilst it is essential all shielding and physical distancing precautions are adhered to, the guidance recommends that residents should be supported to remain active within a reduced space and this is vital for their health and wellbeing.

A safety huddle template and professional judgment template have been developed in conjunction with the care home sector to help care homes identify residents’ care needs and associated staffing requirements. This can also be used to identify where changes to skill mix and additional clinical input is required to support the changing needs or complexity of residents.

To support additional staffing requirements, the Scottish Government has been working to get students and social care retirees and returners into social care as quickly as possible, and working with partners to support care homes to recruit additional staff. Employers now have direct access to the NHS Education Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council recruitment portal enabling quick and effective redeployment of care workers. A number of staff have already been matched for work in care homes or care at home under the new portal and more will be joining them in the coming weeks. In addition NHS Boards and Local Authorities who have local oversight of care homes are providing staffing support for example in-reach support from community nursing teams or deploying staff directly to work in care homes.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

There are people more at risk clinically from Coronavirus, but not such high risk that we ask them to undertake the very difficult job of shielding. This group includes people over 70, women who are pregnant and people who receive the flu jab for medical reasons, regardless of age.

People in this group should strictly follow physical distancing measures, but are able to go out in line with current public health guidance, including the additional easing of lockdown measures covered in the decisions taken on the 28th of May.

If individuals are unable to access the essentials they need, and have no support available to do so, they should contact the national helpline on 0800 111 4000.

During this pandemic the Scottish Government recognises that many older people may experience feelings of loneliness. They may wish to contact the Age Scotland Helpline, which provides information, friendship and advice. The service is helping older people to feel less socially isolated and is helping to tackle loneliness. The Helpline number is 0800 12 44 222.

As we consider options to relax restrictions, fairness, quality of life and the human rights of older people will be important factors in the decision making process.