Hertfordshire Local Resilience Forum Stakeholder Update – 22 January 2021

A message from Darryl Keen, Director of Community Protection, Chief Fire Officer and Chair of the strategic coordination group of the LRF

Dear stakeholders,

We are continuing to see a reduction in positive COVID cases across which is good news, though this is only due to the lockdown and by everyone playing their part. Hospital bed occupancy is high with a high number of people on ventilators but survival rates have improved.

The vaccination programme continues to expand in Hertfordshire with new sites opening, offering protection for many of our most vulnerable residents as well as frontline health and social care staff. Please do consider volunteering at a local site and encourage others to do the same by promoting the Communities 1st information at the end of this update.

COVID-19 vaccination programme

All Hertfordshire residents who are currently eligible to have a COVID-19 vaccination can now access a local vaccination site.

COVID-19 vaccinations are only available by appointment, either following an invitation from a person’s own GP practice or a letter from the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Booking Service enabling someone to use the national booking system. Opening hours are coordinated to ensure that appointments are available when supplies of the vaccine allow.

Newly opened GP-led sites in Harpenden, and mean that there are now 23 groups of GP practices working together to offer widespread coverage across the county. In a new offer this week, three community pharmacies also began vaccinating those people in priority groups who have received a letter asking them to book a slot.

The pharmacies, in , and , are the latest options in our area to be added to the national booking system, which already offers appointments at large vaccine centres, including Robertson House in .

According to the latest figures published on 21 January, 115,304 people have been vaccinated across Hertfordshire and west Essex. This includes:

 50,815 people aged 80 or over with their first vaccination  47,623 people under the age of 80 with their first vaccination (this total includes care home and front line healthcare staff)

Vaccinators have visited almost all of Hertfordshire’s care homes to deliver vaccinations to both residents and staff – with all care homes due to be visited by Sunday 24 January. People aged 70 and over and those under 70 with a health condition that puts them at extreme clinical risk can now also be vaccinated. Whilst the programme has been extended to these additional groups, completing vaccinations for the over 80s, older people who live in care homes and those who care for them will continue to take priority.

Two more large vaccination centres coming soon Next week two large vaccination centres are due to go live just across Hertfordshire’s borders, one in the area and one in Harlow. These will become available to book via the national vaccination booking website shortly, by people who are eligible and have received letters from the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Booking Service.

The NHS is rolling out additional services quickly, but it is important to remember that vaccinations are by appointment only. We know that people are making contact with their local elected representatives or GP surgeries if they haven’t been invited to be vaccinated yet. Please remind your networks that everyone registered with a GP who is eligible to be vaccinated will be contacted in priority order, including those who are housebound or clinically extremely vulnerable. There is no need for anyone to proactively contact their surgery.

As shared in last week’s bulletin, we will keep the following web page up to date with new vaccination sites and information. Please visit www.healthierfuture.org.uk/covid

Care homes There continues to be a rise in the number of outbreaks in our care settings, in particular in flexi- care settings. Whilst many of the cases are still asymptomatic staff members, there has sadly been another significant increase in the number of deaths of care home residents this week.

The Adult Care Services team from Hertfordshire County Council is confident that the growth in the number of new cases will start to level-off from next week, in line with the wider population of Hertfordshire, and that the vaccination programme will begin to make a positive impact.

Care homes that are experiencing outbreaks (2 or more positive cases) have to close to non- essential visitors for 28 days. This makes it difficult for them to reopen if they experience another case during that period. The appeal process, where a home feels they have adequate protection to open for visitors (outside or shielded) even if they have an outbreak, is being re-publicised and appeals are considered on an individual basis.

The Adult Care Services team is tirelessly promoting infection prevention and control measures to all care providers, with an emphasis on informal staff contact recently. They are also supporting providers to access funding and have a funding webinar planned, delivered by Hertfordshire Care

Providers Association. The team continues to work with the local NHS to support the roll-out of vaccinations to care home residents.

East and NHS Trust The trust continues to expand assessment space at the Lister Hospital to support the emergency department and has increased the number of critical care beds.

Working with primary care and Hertfordshire Community Trust, there is also now a ‘virtual’ COVID- 19 ward, where patients are treated and monitored at home, with home oxygen if required.

The vaccination programme continues apace at the Lister, with many thousands of doses given to those aged 80 and over, NHS and care home staff, including staff from other NHS organisations and the ambulance service. The Trust is now also offering appointments to those aged 70 and over from their patient record list.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust General has zoned different areas according to infection status (Covid positive/Covid suspected/non-Covid). Every patient in these zones is reviewed daily by a consultant; this enables rapid decision making and improves the discharge process. As a result, the flow of patients through the hospital is improved, helping to offset the high numbers of patients coming through the emergency department.

West Herts has expanded its virtual hospital service and is treating more patients through remote monitoring. It is also running an oxygen at home service for discharged patients who are recovering or who are on an end of life pathway.

Central Community Hospitals NHS Trust (CLCH) CLCH is providing the Long COVID Assessment Service for residents in west Hertfordshire. This will virtually assess and triage patients with Long COVID symptoms ensuring they are rapidly signposted or referred directly on to the appropriate intervention, service or specialist clinic to meet their needs. Further information on the service can be found online at: https://clch.nhs.uk/services/long- covid-assessment-service

Childhood winter illness - helping parents know what to do Now we are in winter, some children are experiencing common illnesses like coughs and colds. We know that some parents and carers aren’t always sure what to do or where to go when their child is unwell or when they need urgent care. This can be even more worrying during the pandemic.

The two clinical commissioning groups in Hertfordshire have published a new leaflet to help parents spot common winter illnesses, with advice on how they can treat their children at home.

As well as providing clarity on where to go for medical advice, there is a host of information in the leaflet from how to treat colds and earache at home, to how to spot serious conditions such as meningitis and sepsis, as well as some information on coronavirus.

Please do share this leaflet where you can and look out for social media posts about this on Herts Valleys CCG’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Supporting our communities

Policing update: Residents are continuing to report lockdown breaches and police officers are attending the majority of incidents to investigate and respond as necessary. Additional targeted police patrols continue and officers are working closely with council COVID marshals, environmental health teams and trading standards officers to engage with people, explain the rules and encourage adherence. Anyone found to be knowingly breaking the rules can expect to receive a fine.

The constabulary issued a £10,000 fixed penalty notice to a funeral director in Mansfield following a breach of the coronavirus restrictions in Garden City yesterday (Thursday 21 January) when a large funeral took place. Police had worked with partner agencies and the family in advance, in an attempt to ensure the safety of those attending and that of the wider public.

If you believe someone may be breaching COVID-19 regulations, you can report information online, speak to an operator in the Force Communications Room via the online web chat or call the non- emergency number 101.

You can ask your local council to investigate a business or organisation for not following the Government's COVID-19 regulations by reporting it to them online

Hertfordshire Volunteering and People Assistance Cell: This cell is continuing to support vulnerable residents across Hertfordshire and has enhanced the service offering with additional funding in some areas. This includes increasing the level of support for vulnerable residents discharged from hospital to home by strengthening the current support given for food, basic equipment, transport and wellbeing calls. The additional funding will be used to ensure that the current offer is available for up to two weeks. Additional services will be provided, such as one-off or regular home-help style services to cover cleaning, help with cooking, and pet care. The offer will

also include face to face visits, which will allow for a greater level of support to be provided. These will be made available to the most vulnerable people.

HertsHelp is continuing to support those shielding. People advised to shield received a letter last week from the Government advising of the support available from local councils in response to the January lockdown announcement. Hertfordshire County Council has recently lowered the price of food parcels available to those shielding from £30 to £20 per parcel, as further funding for those shielding is expected imminently from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

HertsHelp is also continuing to support residents self-isolating with accessing essential items such as food, medication and financial support. With additional funding, this offer has now been extended so that HertsHelp is proactively contacting residents who have tested positive and indicated they may need additional support. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of people asking for help.

The most recent data received from HertsHelp show that for the January period from 1 – 15 Jan, a number of areas have had a significant increase in demand for support. These include:  mental health support requests  finance related support requests  crisis intervention services  medication collection requests  food support requests.

Demand on HertsHelp and other voluntary and community sector providers continues to remain high and there are additional pressures such as front-line staff absences for self-isolation reasons. This demand is being monitored by the Volunteering and People Assistance Cell.

Communities 1st: Communities 1st and partners are busy recruiting volunteers to support both the vaccination centres and school COVID-19 testing. Over 2,400 volunteers have now signed up and provided 5,300 hours of support for community vaccination sites in a variety of roles, from stewarding to front of house. It is expected that a further 3,000-4,000 volunteers will be needed over the coming weeks as more vaccination centres open up. Anyone who would like to volunteer in a non-clinical role can sign up here: www.communities1st.org.uk/covidsteward

COVID-19 Economic Impact: The latest Economic Impact report from the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership is available to view on their website.

Thank you, Darryl.