⚠️ Due to severe weather conditions, particularly in Biggin Hill, our community care teams may be delayed.
We are working hard to maintain a normal service.
? Please contact us if you would like to cancel care visits via 020 8464 8811.
? If you need immediate assistance, please contact NHS 111 or, in life threatening situations, dial 999.
The pressure on all NHS services across Kent and London has risen significantly due to the higher infection rates in the community.
All local hospitals are very busy and we expect this to continue for some time.
To help you get the quickest and most appropriate treatment please call 111 first before heading to any walk-in services like A&E or Urgent Treatment Centres.
If you need urgent care NHS111 can now book a timed appointment for you at the most appropriate service including urgent treatment centres and A&E if needed.
NHS 111 is also available online at www.111.nhs.uk
COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out but this will take several months. We need your help now.
The number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients needing hospital care will stay high as long as the infection rates stay high. COVID-19 remains a serious illness which kills.
To protect yourself, family and friends and help the NHS; everyone in Kent and London needs to do their bit.
We all need to follow the guidance to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Hands, face, space. Working from home where you can.
It is essential to self-isolate along with everyone in your household if someone has symptoms of the virus, or are contacted by the Test and Trace services self-isolate straight away. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you can book a test by calling 119 or online at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test.
Bromley Council will open a second Covid-19 Rapid Test Unit at the Kentwood Centre in Penge next week in order to expand its programme of targeted testing for frontline staff and the community.
This follows the successful launch of the first site at the Civic Centre. Both centres offer Lateral Flow Tests for those over 18, without symptoms, with results received within 30 minutes to a smart phone or email address.
A proportion of people are asymptomatic and yet the virus is found to be present on testing and so they are in danger of spreading it to others without knowing. Lateral Flow Testing aims to identify those who may be spreading the virus inadvertently because they have no symptoms.
Tests were initially offered to front line staff to protect residents they come into contact with, but as the second site opens and capacity is expanded, care providers, police and fire services, businesses, the voluntary sector and targeted communities in the borough, as well as other members or the public who are over 18 can book tests.
Bookings must be made in advance through the council’s website at www.bromley.gov.uk/rapidtesting
A new dedicated app for the adult social care workforce in England has been launched to support staff through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A new dedicated app for the adult social care workforce in England has been launched to support staff on-the-go through the coronavirus pandemic.
The social care workforce is spread across 18,000 providers and it can often be difficult to communicate with all staff in one clear way. The Care Workforce app, developed with NHSX and the NHS Business Services Authority, will be introduced under the new CARE brand and will act as a single digital hub for social care workers to access relevant updates, guidance, support and discounts from their phone.
The CARE branded app comes in response to calls from the sector for a more unified and connecting brand, and can be downloaded on Apple and Android supported smartphones or accessed by browsers on any device.
New mental wellbeing guidance will soon be published to further support the care sector with bespoke advice for care workers. This guidance will be signposted on the Care Workforce app when available. The tool will be the first of its kind provided for the care workforce, and will:
New mental wellbeing guidance will soon be published to further support the care sector with bespoke advice for care workers. This guidance will be signposted on the Care Workforce app when available.
It builds on a cash injection of £1.6 billion for local authorities, as well as the recently launched social care action plan, which set out a series of measures including ramping up testing and access to personal protective equipment (PPE).
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“Our incredible social care workforce are on the frontline day and night providing quality care to the most vulnerable in our society during the most unprecedented time in our history. The whole country is incredibly grateful of the work they continue to do for our loved ones.
“As part of our continued work to back the care sector, we have launched a new app specifically for care workers to make sure they have the most up-to-date guidance to keep them safe, connected with their colleagues across the country, which also allows them to access discounts like their NHS counterparts.
“It’s available to download right now, and I would urge everyone in social care to do so.”
Helen Whately, Minister of State for Care, commented:
“The care sector is a vital part of our health and care frontline and this pandemic has shone a light on the skills, commitment and dedication of our care workers.
“The Care Workforce app is there to help those frontline care workers ‒ from providing the latest news and guidance, to sharing stories to draw inspiration from in challenging times, and as a way of connecting colleagues from Cornwall to Carlisle. I hope it will help unite people working in care across the country.
“The care workforce have long asked for a single, unifying brand to connect them to each other and I am delighted that we are able today to launch this important new tool under the CARE umbrella.”
In the future, the app will act as a networking platform to bring the social care workforce together in one place to share learnings, best practice and inspiring stories from across the sector
A version of the app is also under consideration for NHS workers.
This follows the launch of the social care action plan, which set out a range of measures to protect staff and residents living in care homes.
The workforce will be expanded by 20,000 through a new recruitment campaign, while NHS nurses and student nurses are being deployed to support social care sector where appropriate.
Care homes are being supported with new ways to order PPE, with millions of items delivered so far. Care staff, alongside residents, are now eligible for testing, whether or not they have symptoms, and since this was announced on 28 April we have delivered over 30,000 tests.
An extra £1.6 billion has also been made available to local authorities to address the additional pressures from COVID-19, with a further £1.3 billion available to provide enhanced support for patients being discharged.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England, said:
“This new app will help to keep the social care workforce fully informed of all the issues in social care, and it will provide an easily accessible and portable resource for every care worker”
Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, said:
“It’s more than welcome to see an app like this that’s specifically designed with the adult social care workforce in mind.
“That workforce has many challenges at the moment, including how to keep services running during the COVID-19 situation; but also how to ensure that issues such as safeguarding, mental capacity and rights under the Care Act are not lost. We’ve all been using technology a lot more in the last few weeks and I’m sure that this will be a really useful addition to help the workforce to provide the best care and support that they can during the current crisis.”
Vic Rayner, Executive Director, National Care Forum, said:
“Care Workforce is a welcome addition to the frontline. It brings together all the important guidance and information for staff into one place – making sure the workforce have at their fingertips the information they need to deliver great care.”
Alex Fox, OBE FRSA, Chief Executive, Shared Lives Plus, said:
“It has never been more important for everyone working in social care to be connected with each other and well informed about the latest changes in policy. The app will help all of us with this. Shared Lives Plus is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care through the pandemic and we encourage everyone working in Shared Lives to sign up.”
Skills for Care CEO Oonagh Smyth said:
“Technology has proved to be incredibly valuable in keeping our workforce informed during this crisis and this new app specifically aimed at the social care workforce will help workers get easy access to the information they need, when they need it.”
“Hard-pressed care workers now have an app that offers them access to useful resources on the move. They can get details on offers they can take up from companies recognising the great work that they are doing and information on how they can support their wellbeing during these very challenging times.”
