Inform & Advise

Introduction

Hi all

I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.  As well as the usual updates to our Coronavirus guidance and details of resources that have been developed, in this issue of Inform & Advise we reflect on starting the process of planning for the ‘new normal’ of a world dictated by the virus and the Government’s response to it.

Anecdotal evidence that we’ve received from local Age UKs would suggest that, as with the work of the national Advice line and Silverline, numbers of enquiries have started to decline and more traditional I&A enquiries are starting to return.  Now is the time that we are all starting to think about how we will be able to deliver our services over the coming months (and possibly years). 

While it looks likely that lock-down measures will be gradually reduced in the next few weeks it will still very likely be the case that for the vast majority of our clients (who by the Government’s definitions are either clinically vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable) the guidance will be for them to continue practicing strict social distancing or self-isolating/shielding,  The upshot of this will be that we will not be providing face-to-face advice services, apart from in the most exceptional circumstances, for some time to come to ensure that we don’t put our clients, and our staff and volunteers, at unnecessary risk.   

Nationally Age UK is planning to provide all of our I&A support and training remotely.  And we are looking to increase the resources and guidance we have produced on remote I&A working.  There is more information on both of these in the following edition of Inform & Advise.

While at the moment it might feel difficult to look past the negatives of the current situation there are potentially a number of positives that we can take from this enforced shift to digital and remote working that can support our work in the future.  It is certainly the case that more older people will be digitally included and able to engage in all of the positive aspects of the online world.  It is likely that this increase in digital uptake from our clients will hasten the development of technologies to support those with disabilities to be digitally included.   Increased home working and effective digital approaches to I&A delivery will reduce the amount of travelling we all do and reduce the carbon footprint of our services as well potentially providing opportunities for improved work/life balance and more flexible working (such as being able to provide services on evenings and weekends).

As stated previously we will be sending out newsletters on a frequent but irregular basis as we have guidance and information to share with you.

Mark Tomlinson, Senior I&A Development Adviser

Please note: some items in the Briefings are not relevant for partners in Wales; these are marked up in the Briefings.

Updated resources for advisers 

We have continued to update the template responses to common Coronavirus queries and since the last issue of Inform and Advise on the 13th of May we have updated the following templates:

• ‘Medical advice’ with information about the addition of loss of sense of smell and/or taste to the officially recognised symptoms of COVID-19
• ‘Visiting or living with a vulnerable person’ with information about NHS England’s guidance on compassionate visits for those receiving end of life care in a formal care setting and amended a link related to residential care.

We have also added a new template on testing for COVID-19.  We expand this template to cover tracking and tracing as the Government develops it’s plans.

To view the templates visit our wiki.  On the first screen of the wiki, under “SPACES” select “Age UK Advice” and then under “PAGE TREE” select “Coronavirus – template responses”.  NB: if you get a bit lost in the menus (which is easy to do) click on the Age UK logo in the top left and this will take you back to the first screen.

David has updated the ‘Changes to the Care Act 2014 under the Coronavirus Act 2020’ briefing to include:

• New guidance on support for care homes and NHS clinical guidance on visiting arrangements for people at the end of life.
• Updated guidance on Direct Payments with regards to the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• A summary of hearing in the mental capacity case of ‘BP’ and a subsequent letter from the Vice President of the Court of Protection to directors of adult social services.

Sheelagh has updated the ‘COVID-19 hospital discharge requirements and other health services-related matters’ briefing to include:

• Amendments to the NHS Volunteer Responder Programme to include new ways to refer into the programme by Approved VCSE organisations, and self-referral by ‘vulnerable’ individuals, even when being asked to shield or self-isolate.
• A new section on the NHS England guidance for supporting compassionate visiting at ‘end of life’.  This provides guidance on how staff working in settings such as care homes, hospices and an individual’s own home can safely and compassionately support such visits, and indicates ways staff might offer emotional support to visitors at this time.
• A new section on the Department of Health and Social Care’s Care home support package.  It describes a range of measures being introduced including Stepping up NHS clinical support so that every care home has a clinical lead they can consult as necessary, and offering regular support, ideally from a multidisciplinary  team, for residents identified as being a clinical priority for care and support.  

Liam has updated the ‘COVID-19 Benefits Briefing’ to include:

• Information on  extending the PIP2 deadline for new claims
• Information on claiming Pension Credit online
• Information on claims for Carer’s Allowance without the cared for persons signature
• Information on Universal Credit where a claimant is already in receipt of legacy benefits, the suspension of third party payments, and Direct Rent Payment requests
• Information on online claims for New Style ESA
• Information on Housing Benefit for temporary absences exceeding the usual time limit
• Information on Post Office card accounts no longer being available for new benefit claimants

The TASO COVID-19 briefings are also available on the Age UK COVID-19 online hub in the dedicated I&A hub.

I&A skills induction e-learning launched

This e-learning course is designed to deliver consistent, positive training in how to become and remain a competent adviser.   The course replaces the ‘I&A skills induction’ training pack and is a core component of Age UK’s induction programme for new (paid and volunteer) advisers.  Experienced advisers will potentially find the e-learning course a useful ‘refresher’.

The training is primarily focused on supporting advisers with their interactions with clients.  It will equip learners with the skills and knowledge needed to ensure that they gather accurate diagnosis of their client’s problems and support them with clear and appropriate advice to enable the client to make informed decisions about actions to be taken.

The e-learning is split into the following six modules:

1.       Defining the role of adviser

2.       Core principles of providing advice

3.       Interviewing and communication skills

4.       Making a record of your interview           

5.       Adviser Resources

6.       Professional Development

All current e-learning users will automatically have access to the course, so if you have previously accessed e-learning through Age UKs online portal, please log in to your account to access this new module. If you do not have access to the Age UK e-learning courses please contact adviceunit@ageuk.org.uk to request access.

Coronavirus enquiry codes added to Charitylog

Working with colleagues in local Age UKs, at the national Advice line and Silver Line we have produced a list of Coronavirus enquiry codes which you may wish to use in your own organisation. These new codes have been added into the Charitylog systems of all local Age UKs and Age Cymrus that use Charitylog.  The codes can be used in any service/team in your organisation and are designed to complement, not replace, the I&A enquiry codes.  More information about the codes can be found here.

We would encourage local partner I&A services to use the Coronavirus Enquiry codes alongside the 20/21 I&A Enquiry Codes.  If your client’s enquiry is related to coronavirus but also involves one of our more traditional I&A enquiry issues, i.e. something that isn’t covered in the list of Coronavirus Enquiry codes, we would ask that you use 20/21 I&A enquiry code of ‘1C – Coronavirus (COVID - 19)’ as well as the code for the specific I&A issue. 

So, for example, if a client is enquiring about claiming means tested benefits because they have seen their income reduce you would record: ‘1C – Coronavirus (COVID – 19)’, ‘6B – Benefit Check’ and then possibly any tier 3 codes for benefits that you have supported them to make a claim for.  If the client’s enquiry relates to one of the issues included in the Coronavirus Enquiry codes there is no need to also record ‘1C – Coronavirus (COVID - 19)’ of the 20/21 I&A Enquiry Codes.

When you submit your quarterly I&A enquiry code report to (national) Age UK could you also please send us the excel report for the Coronavirus Enquiry codes recorded by your I&A service(s).

July regional I&A network meetings and reviewing our national I&A training

We will be running the July I&A network meetings remotely via video-conferencing applications.  The meetings will last a couple of hours and will primarily be an opportunity to reflect on how we’ve delivered our services over the past few months and how we’ll have to operate in a ‘new normal’ dictated by the restrictions and challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.  If you would like to discuss any specific issues during the meeting please contact your I&A Development Adviser at least a couple of weeks in advance of the meeting. 

We are hoping to hold as many of the meetings as we can on the originally planned dates but may need to change one or two due to furloughing in the I&A Development Adviser team.  We will email you all in early June regarding dates for the meetings and will ask that you respond to let us know if you will be attending.  In our larger regions we may hold a couple of meetings (one in the morning, the other in the afternoon), dependent upon likely numbers, to make the conference call more manageable. 

Currently we think it is very unlikely that we will be providing face-to-face network meetings or training events in 2020/21.  Therefore we will be using the meetings as part of a pilot for testing different approaches to remote working with local Age UKs and Age Cymrus.  The TASO team will also be trailing webinars with staff at the Advice line in late June/early July.  Following these we will start to plan a programme of remote/online training, delivery of which will start in the Autumn.   

New Coronavirus grant funding opportunity

While not specifically targeted at advice provision this maybe of interest to local Age UK I&A services.  The Big Lottery have launched a £200m fund aimed primarily at small to medium organisations in England. The fund is part of the Government’s £750m financial support package for charities and social enterprises announced by Government on April 8. They will distribute the Government funding alongside National Lottery funding, to support organisations to continue to deliver services to people and communities affected by COVID-19.  More information can be found here.

A new page on our website with guidance for carers

On the Age UK website we’ve developed a page specifically for those who have concerns about their role as a carer for an older person.  The page can be found here.  Also on the page is a short Coronavirus information resource with some helpful telephone numbers that can be printed off for an older person, whom someone is concerned about, who doesn’t have access to the internet.  It is designed so it can be attached to the fridge.

Help us to produce guidance on providing remote advice

We are working on extending our guidance on remote working.  The guidance we’ve produced so far can be found on our COVID-19 Resources page of the loop or the Age UK Coronavirus I&A Hub.  We are looking to add:

• Guidance on completing AA forms over the phone (to accompany our guidance on using Zoom, which we will be refreshing)
• Guidance on using online application processes for welfare benefits (reflecting on the feedback we’ve had regarding the online Pension Credit application process)
• Guidance on identifying the required IT requirements for an adviser working from home (hardware and software)
• Guidance on working with third parties who can legitimately visit older people in their own homes

If your local Age UK or Age Cymru has experience of, or thoughts, on any of the above please contact either mark.tomlinson@ageuk.org.uk or mark.norris@ageuk.org.uk as we’d very much appreciate your input.

I&A home visiting/face-to-face risk assessment

Age UK recently published guidance on ‘Considerations for Providing Home Visiting Services’  detailing the steps that would need to be considered to be able to provide home visits given the current rules and the risks for clients, staff and volunteers.  In the guidance it states that it is not relevant to I&A as I&A is not an essential personal care or practical support service that can only be delivered face-to-face/in the client’s home.  I&A currently cannot be delivered face-to-face but it is likely that as the Government lifts the Coronavirus restrictions that you could legally provide it, but should only do so in the most exceptional of circumstances.  Age UK has produced a short risk assessment process for considering whether to provide a face-to-face I&A appointment.  Once the I&A risk assessment has been completed, if it looks like a face-to-face appointment could be considered, you should then undertaken your Age UK’s in-house health and safety risk assessment for working face-to-face with your clients during the Coronavirus pandemic.  The risk assessment document can be found on the loop and the Age UK Coronavirus I&A Hub.

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