Headlines – Updates in Gloucestershire
* REMINDER: Benches are useful for someone who needs to take a rest during their daily exercise and none have not been “closed” by the county council. Any signs saying a bench has been closed with regards to COVID-19 should be removed. Following social distancing guidance, it is fine for two people from the same household to sit on a bench. Or one person to sit on a bench and speak to one another from a different household for a short period of time as long as they are a minimum of two metres apart.
* The county council has been working with schools, nurseries and partners in the NHS to make sure that essential frontline staff can continue to go to work. Click here
* Three hubs have been set up in the county to quickly assess and support vulnerable adults during the pandemic. Click here
* Reminder: the community help hub helpline is open 8am-8pm on weekdays and 9am-4pm on weekends or visit: Click here
National updates
Letter to councils about local authority meetings and postponement of elections Click here
Guidance for residential care, supported living and home care Click here – Added link to guidance on admission and care of people in care homes, and marked guidance on residential care provision as withdrawn
Procurement Policy Note 02/20: Supplier relief due to COVID-19 Click here – Addition of further guidance, FAQs and model terms for construction.
Apprenticeship programme response Click here – Updated with new information on continuing training and end point assessment for furloughed apprentices, and pausing new funding audits.
Key links
National Guidance Click here
General NHS advice Click here
Latest advice and developments from Gloucestershire NHS Click here
Gloucestershire’s Community Help Hub Click here
Council service updates Click here
Make an adult social care referral Click here
Business advice and support Click here
Our ‘Looking after your wellbeing Click here webpages are being updated regularly to support people to look after their physical and mental health
Daily stats
Total UK Tests – 208,837
Total UK Cases – 51,608
Total UK Deaths – 5,373
Total Confirmed Cases in South West – 1,827
Total Confirmed Cases in Gloucestershire – 306
Total Deaths in Gloucestershire – 39
The testing data reflects nationally published data available here Click here .
Help hub stats
The helpline is now open 8am-8pm on weekdays and 9am-4pm on weekends.
* I can offer help – 2574
* I need help – 1629
* Someone I know needs help – 562
* My business can help – 205
Your questions answered
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) supply
Maintaining sufficient stocks of all necessary PPE for the county remains the top priority for all partners in Gloucestershire and we are working together, through the LRF, to do all we can to ensure staff in the county continue to have all they need. We currently have enough PPE and further supplies are expected in the coming days but, as with elsewhere in the country, the volume being used has increased significantly and therefore we require ongoing deliveries to ensure staff can continue to deliver services safely.
As a county council, we have carried out a preliminary assessment of requirements in Adult’s and Children’s Social Care. We have pooled our available stocks to make sure we can prioritise distribution to frontline staff in children and adult services and have taken steps to centralise distribution to those services. Further orders have been placed, including a large order by GFRS on behalf of GCC as a whole, against the existing estimated requirements. Work is underway to explore the requirements of the county’s schools.
At this time we are not asking you to proactively ask people if they have stocks of PPE but we are contacting specific trade sectors to see if they can help. However, if you do get sent offers, please send them to Tina Reid<mailto:tina.reid@gloucestershire.gov.uk> so they can be followed up.
Please clarify what is meant by “volunteers will no longer collecting medicines as they are not DBS checked”?
NHS Responder volunteers are a resource to complement the activity already happening in our communities and fill any gaps. This means that community groups who have already set up a process with their local pharmacy to deliver prescriptions to their vulnerable residents can carry on with their activity. If they need extra capacity they can call upon the NHS Responders Volunteers.
The letter from the MHCLG confirms this. Click here
