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SPAEN response to SHRC Report

SPAEN’s CEO, Colin Millar, has “welcomed” the “stark, brutal reality experienced by people across Scotland” in today’s release from the Scottish Human Rights Commission on the impact of COVID-19 on social care support and human rights.

“Anyone reading this report and many of the case examples that its uncovered should be distressed at how our fellow citizens were ‘abandoned’ during this pandemic.  These are real people, each case covered in this report is a person, an individual, somebody’s loved one.  And this is only a snapshot, there will be many more individual experiences that haven’t been captured but are equally harrowing and alarming.”

“We’re told the Scottish Government and partners, including CoSLA, had scenario planning and response modelling from an exercise undertaken a few years previously.  It would appear that this didn’t go far enough or didn’t extend to include other key delivery partners to ensure that should such a pandemic hit Scotland, there was flexibility and security in the delivery of social care.  I’ve raised this concern before and I hope that, as we learn lessons from this unprecedented time, we learn that social care is an eco-system comprising many parts and partners, not a system or process aimed at keeping people in their homes for as long as possible.”

“I’ve said before that, from the many conversations and enquiries I and SPAEN had, that people felt ‘forgotten’ and ‘abandoned’, particularly those using a Direct Payment to commission and control their own care and support.  Ironically, these people were the least affected in our experience as they had complete control and were able to operate flexibly and nimbly to the circumstances.  I would repeat my call to have anyone and everyone using social care to review and consider whether moving to a Direct Payment or Individual Service Fund (ISF) held independently of the social care provider or local authority council would protect them against these kinds of acts should the pandemic flare up again.”

The report has made 24 recommendations to the Scottish Government and CoSLA, some of which they describe as “urgent” to “resolve immediate human rights concerns”.

You can read the full report on the link above.

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Social Care Staff Support Fund Launched

At today’s daily COVID-19 briefing, the Scottish Government announced a new “Social Care Staff Support Fund” to help anyone working in social care who may be financially affected should they be required to self-isolate.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that this scheme is available to Personal Assistants (PA’s), you can read more about the Scheme and how to apply below:

“Social care staff support fund

Social care staff working in care homes, care at home, and housing support, including personal assistants, should be paid their expected income when ill of self-isolating as a result of COVID-19.

Employers should pay eligible staff their expected income. They can then claim any additional costs they incur through the Fund from the relevant commissioning Local authority or Integration Authority.

The Fund is aimed at social care workers who may be expected to self-isolate on more than one occasion due to the nature their work, or the work environment – for example, carrying out personal care. The purpose of the fund is to support infection prevention control and prevent financial hardship.  The Fund became operational on 24 June, backdated to 23 March.

Information about the Fund, including the groups of social care workers who are eligible, the Fund criteria, and how employers can apply for reimbursement, is available here.”

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COVID-19 Restrictions, September 2020

In the Scottish Parliament yesterday, the First Minister set out new restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19.  Since that statement was made, SPAEN has received an increased number of enquiries about how and if this affects PA’s and unpaid carers.  The following statement from our CEO, Colin Millar, seeks to provide reassurance and guidance in response to these requests:

“SPAEN is aware that the Scottish Government has issued new restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 through community transmission.  These regulations include restrictions on home visiting and this has led to many people asking whether this applies to Personal Assistants (PA’s) and unpaid carers.

SPAEN is clear that PA’s should continue, where possible and safe, to provide social care support to their employers following all the guidelines and regulations that have been in place since March of this year.  This includes personal and environmental hygiene, the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and self-isolating where the employer or employee shows any of the symptoms of COVID-19.

The same applies to unpaid carers, including those who have had to take on caring duties as a result of their regular care arrangements being removed or varied either by their local council home care service or care agency.

The provision of social care remains absolutely vital and cannot be interrupted by the increase in COVID-19 cases but should continue to be provided following all the guidelines and using the appropriate PPE as already advised.”

SPAEN members are able to access information on a range of COVID-19 guides and supports via the Member’s area on our website and there is also extensive guidance set out on the Scottish Government’s website.

PA’s and unpaid carers should continue to use appropriate PPE at all times to protect both themselves and those they are caring for and this includes the use of PPE even where the person being cared for or the person delivering the care or support is not showing any symptoms of COVID-19.

The Scottish Government has already committed to and made PPE available for PA’s and unpaid carers and our understanding is that this provision continues so should you require PPE, you can source this through local hubs in your area.

Any PA employer requiring support on the “furlough” scheme or seeking advice around self-isolating either as a result of their developing symptoms or their PA showing symptoms can contact us for specific advice and guidance on (01698) 250280, by e-mail to info@spaen.co.uk or through our Facebook or Twitter accounts.

It is vitally important that all social care support delivered in a person’s home or community setting is done so safely and that the guidance issued in March continues to be followed as this has remained unchanged.

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Welcome assurance received in relation to PPE

SPAEN’s CEO, Colin Millar, has welcomed the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport’s written assurance that the ongoing issue of Personal Assistants and their employers are struggling to access Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Jeane Freeman MSP told the Chamber, “I need to apologise for the fact that we have not resolved this up until now.  This is a really important group of people, the individuals that they are caring for are very important individuals and there is no reason, at this point, why they cannot access PPE.  So my apology goes alongside my assurance that before I leave to go home tonight, we will have resolved this.”

She went on to state, “These Personal Assistants have my assurance that we will have resolved this by the end of today.”

The Cabinet Secretary subsequently followed up this Parliamentary statement with a letter to Colin repeating the apology for the delay and re-affirming her commitment to have this matter resolved, outlining the steps the Scottish Government are taking to ensure this is done swiftly.  You can view the full letter here.

Welcoming the commitment and renewed assurance, Colin said, “We are very grateful to the Cabinet Secretary and all MSP’s who’ve supported SPAEN in their calls to have this matter given the attention it deserves from the Scottish Government.  The delays have caused considerable distress and anger amongst many PA employers and their workers, who have continued to provide support and services despite the personal risk to them and their employers.”

“A quick resolution will ensure that people get the equipment they need to remain protected and SPAEN stands ready to work with the Scottish Government, CoSLA and any other partners to ensure this is achieved.  I would like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for her consideration and leadership in bringing this delay to an end.”

As soon as full details are available on the practical steps PA’s and employers can take to access PPE, we will update our News section, social media channels and will write direct to all our members.

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Charity chief calls for fundamental “review” of how PA employers are supported.

SPAEN’s CEO, Colin Millar, today issued an open letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport, the Convenor of the Health & Sport Committee, the Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Disability and all MSP’s with the Health brief in the Scottish Parliament calling for a “fundamental review into how Direct Payment recipients in Scotland are represented and supported at national and regional level at the earliest opportunity.”

His call comes on the back of repeated requests for access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Personal Assistant Employers and their PA’s, stating, “the cracks in Scotland’s social care system have been exposed and the lack of any kind of planning or cognisance of how Direct Payment recipients would be supported in such instances has clearly not been considered, leaving them exposed and vulnerable.”

Scottish Government estimates there are currently around 2,200 active PA employers in Scotland today, giving a potential PA workforce of between 4,400 and 6,600 individuals.

SPAEN has been calling on the Scottish Government to ensure these people are given equal priority and access to essential PPE, ensuring they can fully follow the Scottish Government’s own guidelines on safe working in social care settings.  The Scottish Government issued an e-mail address and telephone number for people wishing to report issues accessing PPE but SPAEN members are advising their calls are not being taken as they are not “Care Inspectorate” registered and e-mails continue to go “unanswered”.

Some PA employers are being told by their local authority that they will need to source their own PPE.

Colin draws parallels to the urgent care and attention given to other social care workers represented by unions or membership organisations and questions why PA employers are not being afforded the same support and consideration especially given that their right to choose a Direct Payment as a means of meeting their assessed social care needs is protected in law and should have equivalent affect as any of the other Self-directed Support Options.

“We’ve already had to write to the Cabinet Secretary requesting that Personal Assistants be explicitly included in the list of “social care key workers” as initial guidance omitted this, preventing many PA’s from accessing essential childcare or being questioned whether their journey to work was “essential.  It seems as though PA employers in particular are being forgotten at each and every turn.”

You can read the full open letter here.

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CEO Statement

Keeping our members and staff safe whilst continuing to be available to provide advice, guidance, support and assistance as and when required is SPAEN’s key priority and it is with this in mind that we have taken the decision to follow and implement, fully, the Scottish and UK Governments’ advice issued last evening and have taken a number of steps which will change how we do this.

From today (17.03.20), SPAEN’s office in Bellshill will remain closed. This will be constantly reviewed and we will continue to follow Government advice on when to re-open. As a consequence, all office and home visits scheduled will also be cancelled or re-scheduled for a later date. This is done primarily to ensure we do not put any of the people we work with at risk of transmission of Corona virus.

We are conscious that some people may be asymptomatic (have no symptoms) but may still be affected by and therefore pass on Corona virus so simply checking with our staff that they have no symptoms was not sufficiently reliable in seeking to keep you safe.

SPAEN has a very detailed and well-rehearsed Business Continuity Plan and this is now being implemented. This should ensure that you continue to receive the supports and services that you want and need throughout the period that the office is closed, with the exception of face-to-face visits.

For people wishing face-to-face support, we can facilitate video calling using our telephone system and this is available to every SPAEN member at all times. We’re glad we implemented this well in advance and hope that it eases some of the difficulty of not being able to provide home or office visits.

You should continue to phone the SPAEN telephone number (01698 250280) or e-mail info@spaen.co.uk (or the individual or service if you have their direct e-mail address) and we will continue to respond to all your enquiries. When phoning the SPAEN office, you will still be asked to select from 1 for Membership Services; 2 for Payroll services etc. Please continue to use these options as this will direct your enquiry to the right person.

Payroll and Managed Account customers should continue to submit timesheets or other requests to payroll@spaen.co.uk and these will be processed in the usual timescales. The deadlines for submitting payroll information remains the same, so please ensure you help us by having this information to us on time. If you normally post your timesheets, we will be collecting mail from the office so these will continue to be processed to.

I would re-iterate our advice to all PA employers – PLAN ahead. If you can, have casual contracts in place for emergency care and support if your PA is unable to attend work at short-notice. We are working with PA Network Scotland to develop an “emergency list” of available PA’s from all across Scotland.

If you require emergency cover, please get in touch and we’ll do what we can to link you with PA’s in your area however we strongly recommend having other informal supports in place too.

It may take us a few hours to get our remote systems up and running but after this period, you should see business as normal. We recognise these are not normal times and I would encourage you to get in touch if there’s anything at all that we can do to assist – PA employment related or not. We will do all we can.

Like everyone else, we hope the guidance to “socially distance” is not in place for too long and that you all remain safe and well during these challenging times. We will be working on other ideas to help people stay connected and supported and will hopefully have more to follow on this in due course.

Our first priority is ensuring the core services are still available and that we do everything we can to keep each of us safe and supported.

Colin Millar
Chief Executive Officer