Guidance published for Care Homes in case of ‘No Deal’

Guidance has been published for Care Homes in case there is a Brexit ‘no deal’.

The ‘Brexit operational readiness guidance for the health and care system in England’ is published on Gov.uk.

Actions that providers and commissioners of health and social care services, including care homes, should take to prepare for, and manage, the risks of a no-deal exit scenario.

The EU Exit Operational Readiness Guidance, developed and agreed with NHS England and Improvement, lists the actions that providers and commissioners of health and care services in England should take if the UK leaves the EU without a ratified deal – a ‘no deal’ exit. This will ensure organisations are prepared for, and can manage, the risks in such a scenario. This guidance has been sent to all health and care providers, including adult social care providers, to ensure the health and care system as a whole is prepared. Adult social care providers are advised to use this guidance as a prompt to test their own contingency plans. A further letter has also been sent in parallel to local authorities and adult social care providers to address specific adult social care issues.

All organisations receiving this guidance are advised to undertake local EU Exit readiness planning, local risk assessments and plan for wider potential impacts. In addition, the actions in this guidance cover seven areas of activity in the health and care system that the Department of Health and Social Care is focussing on in its ‘no deal’ exit contingency planning:

• supply of medicines and vaccines;

• supply of medical devices and clinical consumables;

• supply of non-clinical consumables, goods and services, including care home telecoms and care home technology;

• workforce;

• reciprocal healthcare;

• research and clinical trials; and

• data sharing, processing and access.

You can read the full guidance here.