...your social care voice in Bucks and beyond... | | |
Hello...
Welcome to your weekly digest of social care news curated by BCPA.
In this week's edition:
- Local
- OXCERPC courses to support palliative care
- National
- Home care research webinar
- VAT grouping - advice for LAs and NHS
- Public advised to stop use of non-sterile wipes
- and more
- International Recruitment
- Latest progress graphic
- 647 workers available for work
As always, please let us know if you are looking for something and can't find it.
We're here to help.
See our website at buckscare.org for events and resources, including our International Recruitment Local Support Directory.
Eddy McDowall, BCPA
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| | Your LOCAL care association...your social care voice in Bucks and beyond.... | | |
Don't forget YOUR next virtual network...
Find the notes, recording and slide set from 10 July here
From across Bucks, get together, discuss issues and hear latest updates.
It will benefit your business.
All virtual networks are on TEAMS.
ALL providers delivering in Bucks welcome.
We look forward to seeing YOU there!
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BCPA Network - future event to seek your views
We are looking at holding a face-to-face network to gather your thoughts on specific challenges you are having and what you think we can do about it. Please look out for details of the event over the next few days.
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Bucks Homestay is a pilot initiative run by BCPA aimed at offering affordable and flexible housing solutions for social care professionals in Buckinghamshire, providing a safe and welcoming environment for those in need.
From Spare Rooms to Shared Support
Launched in partnership with NHS England and Homestay, the NHS Homestay Hub helps Adullt Social Care staff find affordable accommodation by renting out spare rooms or securing short-term stays near their workplace. This initiative addresses housing challenges and promotes staff retention.
Earn Extra Income
Renting out a spare room can provide extra income, with the potential to earn up to £7,500 tax-free under the Rent-a-Room Scheme.
Get Started Today!
Join us in growing the community of hosts and guests to increase the impact of the Hub.
Register as a host here: https://nhs.homestay.com/homestayhubs
For more information, contact us at homestay@buckscare.org
| | Trusted Assessor Services | | |
Buckinghamshire Trusted Assessor pilot
Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust commissioned a 6-month pilot Trusted Assessor Service with funding from Buckinghamshire Council.
Two Trusted Assessors working with patients who are usually resident at Fremantle Care Homes (largest care provider in Buckinghamshire). The Trusted Assessors will manage communication and information flow between the Patient, the Care Home and the Ward to ensure patients move through the system quickly and effectively.
The pilot ended in March. We have asked for details of outcomes and any report written.
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The Oxfordshire Trusted Assessor Service provides support Monday - Friday at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
We take referrals on:
- local authority funded care home placements
- self-funders seeking a care home placement
- self-funders seeking a home care package
- complex local authority funded home care packages
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email oacp.taoxon@nhs.net
- Valerie Jarvis 07864 686 552
- Rachel Adams 07860 371 099
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How are we doing Apr - Jul 2025?
-
349 assessments completed at an average of 5.26 assessments per working day
- 84.2% assessments completed same day or next day
- 78.5% of assessments referred by providers or sourced by our Team
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Saving the local system £884,715 in 872 NHS bed days
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Plus 230 daily updates as requested by care homes or dom care
Saving care provider time in care settings…
- 1,396 hrs at 4 hrs per assessment
- 2,094 hrs at 6 hrs per assessment
At a total cost to the Oxfordshire system of £26,533.22
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We believe that a Trusted Assessor Service plays a crucial role in continuing to improve hospital discharge.
We are pushing for discussions with relevant health and council decision-makers to deliver a similar service in Buckinghamshire.
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OxCERPC | Palliative Care courses and more
Oxford Centre for Education and Research in Palliative Care are holding a number of courses supporting end of life care.
Read and book
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Support to migrant care workers
Buckinghamshire Council and Oxfordshire County Council have commissioned a new pilot with Anti-Slavery (ASIOX) until September 2025, to provide support to Sponsored Care Workers facing exploitation or job loss, for those living in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. This support is NOT a replacement for the SESCA-led International Recruitment hub and we will work together to support migrant care workers.
Please see ASIOX’s website for more details on the service: https://www.asiox.org/support-for-care-workers
To be eligible for this support, the person being referred must
- Be in the UK on a Sponsored Care Worker VISA
- Have been exploited by their employer OR their employer has lost their sponsorship license
- Live in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire
- Have consented to the referral
- Be an adult (18+ years old)
Making a referral
If someone you know meets all these referral criteria, there are 2 options:
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You can refer someone for support by sending an email with basic information to office@asiox.org.
- Once received, the client will be contacted within 2 working days to get more information about their case and how ASIOX can support them.
- They can self-refer. (If you give someone information to self-refer, please still email ASIOX to let them know that you have shared this information so ASIOX can track whether they do self-refer.)
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Buckinghamshire Council | Private and Voluntary Sector Training Directory 2025 – 2026
This directory was developed and designed in collaboration with our Private and Voluntary partners, as well as the Registered Managers’ Network. It incorporates feedback from quality assurance visits conducted by our commissioning colleagues, along with insights from training needs analysis.
The offer will support all colleagues in Buckinghamshire’s Adult Social Care with opportunities to develop, grow and enhance:
- Skills
- Knowledge
- Career progression
See the Directory
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Still haven't completed your DSPT?
Do you want to feel like this?
Don't wait!
You probably have most of the policies and procedures in place already.
We're here to help!
Reach out to us via email to arrange a virtual or face-to-face one-to-one session. Let's get it done together!
digital@oacp.org.uk
Angie and Sam
| | | Your support to overseas recruitment | | |
Following the publication of the UK Government’s Immigration White Paper on 1 July 2025, which sets out major changes to the rules governing overseas recruitment in adult social care, DHSC has released an in-depth Q&A to clarify the new policy and its implications for providers covering
- The transition period up to 2028
- Restrictions on switching to the Health and Care visa route
- Recruitment of students and graduates
- Rules for displaced workers and TUPE transfers
- Minimum salary thresholds and sponsor responsibilities
Read more
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The SESCA hub has 647 displaced workers available now with grants to support costs.
Email hello@sesca.org.uk to register your interest.
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SESCA-led displaced worker project: what we can do and what we can't do
The SESCA-led project is delivering support specifically to displaced workers (former employees of registered care providers whose sponsorship licence has been revoked). We are aware that the primary need is for female drivers in home care.
We can:
- Register migrant workers on a sponsorship licence who have been displaced and take them through an assurance process to maximise their potential for re-employment.
- Register CQC-registered care providers and take you through a process that maximises your opportunity to employ a worker.
- Provide a grant of £2,000 to care providers when the displaced migrant worker starts with a new employer and a further grant of £3,000 if they stay employed with you for 6 weeks providing the care provider has completed all relevant processes (grants are being reviewed to reflect increased UKVI costs).
We cannot:
- Share the list of displaced workers with care providers who have not completed the assurance process.
- Guarantee any care provider an employee.
- Guarantee any displaced worker a new employer.
- Force an employee to work for a new employer.
- Force a care provider to take on a new employee.
- Influence UKVI to extend, replace or otherwise change a current visa.
- Influence the local authority to provide a letter of support if they are not in support of the provider application.
- Signpost migrant workers who are not displaced, but out of work / want to change employers.
We would like to remind all interested parties that it takes time to process displaced workers and providers and for a potential match to happen. Much of this is outside the control of SESCA.
Please be patient and polite when dealing with any of the SESCA hub staff.
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KCL | Home Care Research Forum
Two presentations:
- Leadership in Home Care Services – What works well?
- Dr Rebekah Luff, National Programme Manager of My Home Life England, City St George’s, University of London
- PALLDEM-Homecare: Homecare workers providing end of life care for people with dementia.
- Dr Lesley Williamson, Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation; NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health & Social Care Workforce, King's College London
Read more
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HMRC | VAT grouping
HMRC has received feedback and queries regarding practical lines to take when dealing with providers.
The document linked below should be read in conjunction with the Revenue and Customs Brief (RCB).
If you have any questions, please contact HMRC as per the instructions in the RCB and Q&A document.
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UHSA | Public advised to stop using certain non-sterile alcohol-free wipes
Due to risk of infection, non-sterile alcohol-free wipes are not appropriate for the treatment of injuries, wounds or on broken skin, nor for cleaning of intravenous lines. During investigation of an outbreak, certain wipes were found to be contaminated with Burkholderia stabilis. The following products have been found to be affected:
- ValueAid Alcohol Free Cleansing Wipes
- Microsafe Moist Wipe Alcohol Free
- Steroplast Sterowipe Alcohol Free Cleansing Wipes
In addition, testing also revealed contamination of Reliwipe Alcohol Free Cleansing Wipes, although the contamination was deemed to be with a Burkholderia strain not related to the outbreak cases.
Read more
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DHSC | Survey of adult carers in England 2025 to 2026
Guidance and materials for the survey of adult carers in England (SACE) 2025 to 2026 survey year has been published. All councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs) with an eligible population of at least 150 carers are required to carry out this survey every 2 years. SACE exists in a national policy context that recognises the vital contribution of unpaid carers, and asks carers about:
- their quality of life
- the impact of services on their quality of life
- their general health and wellbeing
Read more
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NRS | the road to failure
The demise of Nottingham Rehab Limited (t/a NRS Healthcare) was rumoured for several weeks until it became public over the last week. Beginning with a ransomware cyberattack in March 2024, which necessitated the replacement of over 1,000 laptops, recovery costs spilled into 2025. NRS also reported that the terms of local authority contracts strained finances, with demands for high service levels at low margins. When coupled with inflation and increased NICs and operational overheads, NRS saw profitability challenged. Price Waterhouse Cooper led the sale attempts, but were unable to secure a sale leading to an application to The Official Receiver for compulsory liquidation on 1 August with 1,500 staff affected. NRS have been owned by Graphite Capital since 2019 and the main provider of community equipment for 41 ICBs and councils (including all of the BOB ICB localities), mostly in the south of England. Recovery has been underway over the last few weeks with, in most areas, at least provisional arrangements in place until full contracts were secured.
All eight councils in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire will now be supplied by Millbrook Healthcare.
Read the Buckinghamshire Council statement.
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Skills for Care | Vacancy rates in social care return to pre-Covid levels
Social care vacancy rates have returned to pre-Covid levels, according to the latest data from Skills for Care – the workforce development body for adult social care in England.
The annual ‘Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report also found that the adult social care sector has continued to grow between April 2024 and March 2025, despite a significant fall in the number of international recruits.
The new figures – based on data from Skills for Care’s ASC-WDS show that the vacancy rate for 2024/25 fell to 7%. This was a return to similar levels seen prior to 2021/22, when the rate had peaked at 10.5%. The total number of vacant posts in 2024/25 was 111,000, which is a 12.4% decrease on the previous year.
The number of filled posts grew by 3.4% to 1.6 million. This growth was smaller than the previous year, but still the second highest increase on record.
Read more
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The Care Association Alliance commented that it’s positive to see fewer job vacancies in adult social care and encouraging that we’re back to pre-Covid levels. What’s worrying is that we’re continuing to lose people from the domestic workforce, and with the visa route for care workers and senior care workers now closed, it will be even harder to fill those gaps.
Read the LinkedIn post
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DHSC | Adult Social Care recruitment campaign – Make care your career
The annual Adult Social Care recruitment campaign – Make care your career will be launch in early October (exact date TBC).
Advertising throughout Oct-Nov 2025 and again Jan-Mar 2026 across a range of channels, including video-on-demand, radio, social media and online. This activity will drive the target audience (adults aged 18-39 in lower socio-economic groups and with the right values) to apply for roles on the dedicated ASC website. DHSC will use the same creative as last year.
DHSC also have the following for you to use on websites
More details about the campaign and how to get involved will follow.
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Link between paying taxes and quality of council services in England ‘broken’, say MPs
The cross-party Committee report finds that the broken link between tax and service quality is leading to a growing dissatisfaction among residents and, as the Government Minister notes, risks undermining trust in local democracy in England. The report also points to widespread cuts to preventative services over many years having exacerbated the financial crisis in local government.
Read more
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Care Association Alliance | our big family
We are part of the largest national care association, the Care Association Alliance, with over 6,000 members across England.
This informs us of current concerns, we can source potential solutions on behalf of you and it helps inform our local communications.
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Consistent, quality information
We mail out once a week on a Wednesday, so you know when to look out for it.
These updates will provide summary advice on emerging issues and signpost providers to government and other statutory agency advice as needed.
Reminder
We are always keen to hear from providers, if you have anything you would like to share with provider colleagues, please send to the usual address.
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BCPA is partnered with the Institute of Health and Social Care Management to provide development and networking opportunities for managers.
If you would like to take advantage of your BCPA Membership offer with IHSCM, please contact us for your password to access their services.
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IHSCM have put together a quick promo video for you just giving a bit of an introduction to your FREE membership with IHSCM.
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ALL managers who work for you will be able to access these opportunities for free.
If you're not sure if your organisation is eligible as an BCPA Member, please contact us.
BCPA Membership costs £150 per annum per location. Discounts available for multi-location providers
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