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Emergency Planning for a Flu Pandemic: Services for Children and Young People in Residential Care Settings
SIRCC is offering the following guidance for residential child care providers to help them prepare an action plan to manage the potential effects of a flu pandemic on service provision.
Contents of this briefing
- World Health Organization (WHO) Alert Phases
- Pandemic flu and RCC.
- Staffing
- What you should do now
- What you should do during a pandemic
- Where can I get information?
1. World Health Organization (WHO) Alert Phases
The World Health Organisation (WHO) uses a six-phased approach to the pandemic flu to allow easy incorporation of new recommendations and approaches into existing national preparedness and response plans. In 2009 the grouping and description of pandemic phases have been revised to make them easier to understand, more precise, and based upon observable phenomena.
Phases 1–3 correlate with preparedness, including capacity development and response planning activities, while Phases 4–6 signal the need for response and mitigation efforts. We recommend that you review your current plans - for pandemic flu or more general emergency plans – so that you are well prepared to deal with any difficulties arising from the pandemic. The WHO pandemic flu alert has been at level 6 since 11 June 2009. This does not indicate any increase in the severity of the virus; rather it is an indication of how it is
spreading globally
Local authority providers should discuss with relevant residential care providers and other local authorities the arrangements for handling out-of-authority placements, and identify where overall responsibility responsible lies, whether with yourselves or the 'host' local authority.
2. Pandemic flu and RCC
Wherever possible, residential child care settings should continue to function during a flu pandemic. The risk of infection spreading in these settings will not be much greater than in a large family. The dangers of this are outweighed by the distress experienced by children and young people if they are transferred to other accommodation. Where a residential child care provider is responsible for more than one unit on a particular site, it may be possible to limit the spread of infection by moving children so that well children are not accommodated with sick ones. This, however, will depend on appropriate infection control, medical and public health advice and will require the agreement of the local authority responsible for each individual child's care. In most cases, children who are still well will have to remain with the children who are ill. Providers will need to take action to prevent the spread of infection with any necessary support from primary care services such as GPs or public health nurses.
3. Staffing
Residential child care providers need to take into account a number of factors in planning for staff absence. In addition to staff being ill themselves, they may need time off to care for sick relatives. It is also possible that decisions to close other services such as schools or early years settings may have an impact on staff availability, if working parents need to take time off work to look after healthy children who cannot be left at home alone.
Requirements regarding the number and qualification level of staff will remain in force during any pandemic. Providers will be expected to ensure sufficient staffing levels to maintain the safety and meet the needs of children in their care. It may be necessary to introduce temporary staff at short notice to cover for exceptional levels of staff absence. In such situations it will be important for these workers to be provided with sufficient guidance and supervision to be effective in their role as well as ensuring that they all have a current enhanced disclosure. Providers should consider deploying suitably qualified staff from other areas such as community-based services, field social work or management to cover in such instances, as well as exploring with the SSSC the possibility of using appropriate volunteers in a supervised role.
4. What you should do now
Providers, in discussion with their registered managers, should now have plans for continuity of care. Some key activities will include:
Staffing
- Appoint a lead contact for your organization, define a clear remit for this role and create an effective communication strategy.
- Ensure that you have procedures for keeping up to date lists of contact names, phone numbers and addresses (including mobile numbers and e-mail addresses where possible) for all staff;
- Put in place arrangements for the recruitment of temporary staff to cover for unusually high levels of staff absence - you will need to take into account the likelihood of demands from other service providers for the same 'pool' of potential cover staff;
- Ensure that policies for applying for medical leave (or for special leave to take care of family members) are in place. Staff should be aware that government advice is that they should not come to work, if they think they are ill, during the pandemic;Explore the willingness of staff to take on a different role for some or all of the duration of a pandemic, and make arrangements for the provision of any necessary additional support and supervision;
- Consider the desirability/practicality of sharing staff between residential unit
- Explore options for exceptional circumstances of using unqualified volunteers to assist while staff are absent (bearing in mind the need to ensure that no unsuitable person has access to children)
- Decide what are non-essential services for your organization
- Develop a protocol for annual leave being subject to review
- List what are essential meetings both to host and for staff to attend
- Cancel training
- Restrict any non essential professional visitors to Units
Services/environment
- Heating of buildings;
- Maintain safety and hygiene arrangements to a high standard, e.g. cleaning toilets, prompt disposal of waste.
- Continuity of meals provision, supply and types of foods and drinks, drinking waterLaundry service
- Ensure supplies e.g. increase in bed linen, gloves, tissues hand wash, bin
- Arrangements for non stock supplies e.g. masks, surgical masks thermometers, paracetamol
- Ensure some staff have been trained on the use of personal protective equipment (information on website)
- Have arrangements for waste collection services
Children and Young People
- Plan for when and how you might isolate a sick child.
- Restrict visiting but ensure plans are in place to maintain family contact and ensure clear communication to all relevant professional and personal contacts of individual children.
- Rapid access to medical help if and when required;
- Prepare resources to support the individual young people if they are isolation in their room, i.e. TV, books, music
- Possible removal of shared toys and magazine
- Plans for restrictions to family visiting arrangements while ensuring the maintenance of other contact and communication.
- Ensure that relevant staff are aware of the procedures to be followed if a child in your care dies;
- Make contingency plans for supporting staff and other children in a home if a child were to die.
- Make contingency plans for supporting a child or staff member who has been bereaved.
5. What you should do during a pandemic
Providers should support their registered managers, to maintain normal routines for the children in their care as far as is possible, without compromising safety.
One of your top priorities will be to ensure that infection control is practiced consistently and rigorously. It is, however, important to recognize that the residential environment is the home of the children in your care and all infection control measures should be instituted and managed with an awareness of the emotional and physical needs of these young people.
Your lead contact should keep staff up to date with advice form the Public Health Department
If as a result of the pandemic children have to be moved from their established placement, you must inform the local authority responsible for the child's care.
6. Where can you get further information?
Guidance designed to assist staff in residential settings for children, boarding schools, secondary schools with hostels, residential special schools and children’s homes is available at the following sites. It may also assist staff in specialist colleges and residential
settings for vulnerable young people.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/924/0056415.pdf
The Scottish Government’s latest up to date information can be found on http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/AvianInfluenza/mexicanswiuneflu
Current information and useful links www.hps.scot.nhs.uk
Explaining pandemic flu and the role of the World Health Organizationhttp://www.who.int/en/
Health Protection Scotland has provided model infection control guidance which you may find useful.http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/ic/modelinfectioncontrolpolicies.aspxGeneral
guidance on infection control, including personal hygiene and seasonal
influenza is available from Health Protection Scotland
Planning guidance for schools and children services in Scotland:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/05121311/0 and summary
Guidance for schools in Scotland at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/05121221/1
General guidance on planning for a flu pandemic previously issued by theScottish Government is at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/PandemicFlu
Helpful information can be accessed through the Health Protection Scotland website at www.hps.scot.nhs.uk
This guidance is based on NCB NCERCC guidance for the English residential services sector:http://partner.ncb.org.uk/ncercc/ncercc%20practice%20documents/ncercc_pandemicfluadvice.pdf
Authors
It has been compiled with the support of Denise Carroll,
Research and Development LAC Specialist Nurse, Kibble Education and
Care Centre with input by Judy Furnivall, SIRCC Consultancy Services
Manager.
Sample Plan
Kibble Education and Care Centre has kindly offered their Flu Pandemic Plan as a sample for use by the sector. It can be found on the SIRCC website via this link.
Feedback
We welcome feedback on this prompting checklist, and will amend and update as we learn together. Please send mailto:sircc@strath.ac.uk
| Attachment | Size |
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| SIRCC Guidance on Planning for a Flu Pandemic | 98.5 KB |
| Sample flu pandemic plan for rcc | 105.2 KB |