Care homes and care homes with nursing

This information is primarily intended for providers – but the public can also read it.

Engagement and forums

Quarterly meetings are held between providers and the Council to discuss a range of topics including health and safety, clinical support and recruitment/retention. Forums are also used to update providers on current initiatives and engage with them regarding issues affecting the sector.

To ask for dates of these meetings and previous minutes send an email to ContractsUnit.AdminTeam@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Contract and procurement

The current 4 year care home contract between the Council and CCG came into force on 5 September 2016. You can download a copy via the Council’s e-tendering portal. New providers can register by visiting the Council’s e-tendering portal, in-tend.

Training

Providers can use the online learning management system, Brighton & Hove Learning Gateway, to find information, complete e-learning and book places on courses, conferences and events.

Stop Look Care is the locally agreed care certificate to be used in the City with National Care Certificate Standards.

Useful community services

There’s a range of health services delivered in the community that can potentially prevent unnecessary hospital admission. Details of services available, times that they operate and how to access them can be found in the Brighton and Hove urgent care service directory.

Contacting Sussex Community Foundation Trust

You can contact the trust in the following ways:

Sussex Community Foundation Trust Referral Management Hub (RMH) is for patients who require short term intervention, and to support hospital discharges as well as prevent avoidable admission to hospital
responsive services operate 8am - 8pm, 7 days a week including bank holidays (the Hospital at Home service operates 7am - 10pm)
the RMH is staffed 8am - 5pm, 7 days a week, but urgent referrals for a service can be made 24hrs a day
the RMH Process for all referrals for responsive services can be made by phone on 01273 242 117, by fax on 01273 242 290, or by sending an email to referralmanagement.brighton-hove@nhs.net

Medicines Information Service

The Medicines Information Service is a specialist service that supports the safe, effective and efficient use of medicines. The service provides a Patients’ Medicines Helpline for outpatients and patients recently discharged from hospital.

Telephone: 01444 454 388

The medicines information pharmacist team take calls from care home providers, for patients who have been recently discharged from BSUH, who have queries about or issues with their medicines on discharge.

The medicines information service can be contacted by email on medicines.information@bsuh.nhs.uk.

Dementia

The aim of the Care Home Inreach service for dementia in Brighton and Hove is to work proactively with the whole care home sector, and to lead and drive improvements in quality of dementia care.

Care homes can contact the Care Home Inreach Team by email on dementiacarehomeinreach@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk or tel: 03003 040 092.

You can find more information about dementia and the adult social care support that is available locally on the Brighton and Hove City Council website. If there are concerns about a resident’s memory please arrange to visit a GP who can organise a referral to the Memory Assessment Service which is provided by Here.

Advice on seeking urgent & emergency care

South East Coast Ambulance Service has created a document to provide support and guidance to staff in care homes (nursing & residential), when their resident has an acute medical problem or injury. It is intended to give an indication of what you can do in the event of problem with a resident. However if you are in doubt, call 999.

Palliative and end of life care

End of life care planning

End of life care planning starts early so a person and their family and friends can be involved, if appropriate and if they wish to be. Enhanced care planning allows service users to set up advanced directives and ensure that needs are met if and when the ability to communicate is lost.

At the later stages, close liaison with the GP, palliative care team or general medical colleagues ensure that patient and family wishes are carried out, dignity is maintained and suffering kept to a minimum.

Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR)

There is guidance regarding good practice for all workers who support people with end of life care.

The Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) Policy aims to achieve a joint health and care approach to making decisions when not to resuscitate, and in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest, to allow a natural death. It supports patient choice, and the respect of patient and family wishes in avoiding inappropriate intervention at the end of life.

The End of Life Care Facilitator for nursing homes in Brighton and Hove

The End of Life Care Facilitator works closely with all personnel working within care homes with nursing. This is to support, enable, encourage and develop the complex skills required to deliver best practice End of Life Care to residents when it is needed.

This will be achieved by developing and delivering tailor made workshops, (in collaboration with the care homes with nursing managers and clinical leads, the local hospice, hospice at home team and dementia in reach team), within the care home with nursing setting to include:

syringe driver management
verification of expected death
management care plan for the dying patient
advance care planning.

The role does not include:

carrying a case load of patients or residents
providing ongoing care to residents and family or friends (including pain and symptom control).

NHS Choices end of life care guide

The NHS Choices End of Life Care Guide may be useful for people who are caring for someone who is dying, or for people who want to plan in advance for their own end of life care.

End of life Care e-learning programme

The end of life care e-learning training programme is an opportunity for all care homes and care homes with nursing to get FREE access and support to end of life care training. The aim of the care home end of life training project is to facilitate and support the local care home and care home with nursing workforce to undertake the free end of life care e-learning programme, and to encourage and embed these principles across Brighton & Hove.

This joint project supported by the Martlets Hospice and Macmillan would like to help bridge the gaps and learn about care homes and care homes with nursing challenges.

The Project Lead, Nikki Still, is based at the Martlets Hospice, and will be available to help, guide and support you and your workforce to gain new skills and knowledge, enabling you to better care for your residents as well as support you with any challenges faced.

You can send Nikki an email at Nikki.still@martlets.org.uk or phone 07766 078 304.

Feedback on Health Services

The Feedback on Providers (FOP) is the central platform for receiving and collating feedback about the quality of health services in the city.

To report your feedback send an email to BHCCG.FOP@nhs.net.

Please make sure the email gives a concise description of the issue and the service(s) involved and what actions if any you may have already taken. Remember to remove any patient identifiable information.

Please note the FOP email address is intended for use by professionals. If you are a member of a public and want to send us feedback, please contact the NHS Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group.

How is this information used?

The CCG Quality Team is always keen to encourage feedback on providers in the city. The purpose of FOP is to collate information and escalate, where relevant, to commissioners and clinical leads for their information about the services they commission.

Any emerging themes and key issues are also raised directly with providers at quality/performance review meetings.

FOP is not a system to follow up and investigate concerns of individual issues, and does not replace the process for raising complaints directly with services. In the first instance, you should share your feedback directly with the provider with a copy to FOP to BHCCG.FOP@nhs.net.

Quality Monitoring Team (Council)

The Council has a Quality Monitoring Team to support the quality monitoring of care homes and care homes with nursing. The team will arrange a variety of audit visits as required supporting services and to address issues identified.

The Quality Monitoring Team is responsible for supporting all adult social care contracted services (including Council) across the city. The team’s role is to ensure good quality care is provided in services to keep people safe. The team gather intelligence through various ways e.g. complaints, S42 enquiries, one off information from Council staff (assessment, safeguarding leads, social workers, and whistle blowers etc). The team also works closely with other professionals including the CCG and CQC to share soft intelligence to build up a picture of ‘services of concern’.

If you have concerns about a provider, send an email to accesspoint@brighton-hove.gov.uk or phone 01273 295 555.

Care homes and care homes with nursing – provider information