Subject:

Provision of Personal Protective Equipment for Individuals

Date of Meeting:

8 October 2020

Report of:

Executive Director for Health & Adult Social Care 

Contact Officer:

Name:

Michelle Jenkins

Rima Desai 

 

Tel: 07795 336271

Tel: 07825387322

 

Email:

Michelle.jenkins@brighton-hove.gov.uk, rima.desai@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Ward(s) affected:

(All Wards);

 

FOR GENERAL RELEASE

 

 

1.         PURPOSE OF REPORT AND POLICY CONTEXT

 

1.1       The BHCC PPE Hub is responsible for providing PPE for BHCC staff. In addition, the PPE Hub has provided assistance in emergency and for short term only from 6th April 2020 until 11th September 2020 to the following as a result of receiving significant PPE stock from the Local Resilience Forum:

·         Care sector organisations

·         Childcare settings

·         Education settings

·         Commissioned or partner organisations (Non CQC Registered e.g. homeless support services)

·         Individual carers (Personal Assistants and unpaid carers)

 

1.2       It was agreed at the Special P&R Committee meeting on 14th August 2020 that the BHCC PPE Hub continues to support external organisations in emergency and for short term only but that any items procured by BHCC are charged on a cost recovery basis. This process has gone live from 14th September 2020.

 

1.3       The purpose of this report is to present the options for supporting individuals who need PPE. There is a firm possibility that the individuals with health and social care related PPE needs will be supported by the Department of Health and Social Care until March 2021. The approved option in this paper will go live from the point when there is a need to support individuals from the BHCC purchased stock.

 

2.         RECOMMENDATIONS:    

 

2.1         To approve that individuals with essential PPE needs continue to be supported by the BHCC PPE Hub in an emergency and on short term basis without charge.

 

 

3.            CONTEXT/ BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

3.1         Individuals will request assistance for PPE mainly for 2 reasons:

·         Items are not available in the market (we now know that the supply market has considerably improved over the last few months)

·         Individuals don’t have the funds to buy PPE – in which case they can seek help from  the Local Discretionary Fund team.

3.2       Current process is that individuals make request via an online form on the council website which comes to the Community Hub team who in turn checks the records and make recommendation to the PPE Hub for distribution. These individuals mainly fall into 2 categories – those in receipt of direct payment and those who are unpaid carers.

3.3       The PPE Hub have started to charge external organisations from 14th September 2020. In addition to the cost of items, the team is also charging for overhead on a cost recovery basis. The overhead is charged at 25% on top of the unit price of an item. This includes all the staff working directly on PPE procurement, storage and distribution. This doesn’t include corporate overhead which is estimated at additional 10%.

3.4       CQC registered providers are expected to continue to have access to the PPE Portal for their emergency PPE need. The National Supply Disruption line is expected to continue to operate for non-CQC registered providers and for CQC providers who have been unable to access stock through the Portal. If these 2 routes are functioning effectively, external organisations would have significantly less dependency on the BHCC PPE Hub. In the interest of public health, the BHCC PPE Hub will continue to operate to support external organisations with charging for BHCC purchased stock.

 

4          ANALYSIS & CONSIDERATION OF OPTIONS

 

4.1       The first decision point is whether individuals are assisted by the BHCC PPE Hub or not. 

·         Our recommendation is that the PPE Hub continues to assist individuals to mitigate against infection control and reputational risks.

·         There will be resource implication in terms of procuring, storing and distributing PPE to individuals.

 

4.2       The second decision point is whether individuals are assisted always or only in an emergency and on a short term basis.

·         Our recommendation is that the PPE Hub assists individuals only in an emergency and on a short term basis. This is what we have been doing over the last 6 months and there is no demand to do anything different.

·         This will help in keeping the PPE Hub operation at a manageable level.

·         The supply market is more comfortable now whereby PPE items are more readily available in the market.

 

4.3       The third decision point is whether individuals are charged for the PPE items requested, charged based on means testing or not charged.

·         Our recommendation is that individuals are not charged.

·         There is a cost implication estimated at £1000 per week. This is subject to change based on the number of requests received and price/item. This estimated cost has reduced from £1200 per week given reduced demand (please see appendix 1).

·         There are resource implications for means testing and charging.

·         Charging may result in vulnerable individuals not getting in touch with the BHCC PPE Hub which may have adverse impact on their well-being and infection control.

5          COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & CONSULTATION

5.1       The PPE team have worked jointly with the Equalities & Third Sector team to promote the availability of PPE in emergency on a short-term basis to Voluntary & Community sector organisations in the city. These organisations in turn are able to promote the offer to individuals.

 

6          CONCLUSION

6.1       On balance it is felt that the recommended option provides the right balance of supporting vulnerable individuals, protecting public health and optimising cost implications.

7          FINANCIAL & OTHER IMPLICATIONS:

 

Financial Implications:

 

7.1       The council has committed over £2.0m to date to maintain the supply of PPE and meeting the demand over and above the supplies provided through the local resilience forum. The council has been awarded £18.7m COVID-19 Emergency Response Funds by government to meet emergency expenses.  However, the projected financial position reported to this committee on 9 July 2020 highlights the significant full year impact of increased costs, including ongoing PPE requirements, and reduced income and this funding only covers these financial pressures in part. It is therefore imperative the council minimises costs where possible to protect the council’s financial resilience. The recommendation of this report is to continue the provision of free PPE for individual carers in an emergency and on a short-term basis without charge. This ensures there is a safety net whilst minimising the cost to the council. It is not possible to estimate this cost accurately at this stage but it is assumed the provision of free PPE for this client group will cost around £1,000 per week. This cost will be reflected in future Targeted Budget Management (TBM) reports.

            Finance Officer Consulted: James Hengeveld                            Date: 15/9/2020

Legal Implications:

 

7.2       The proposals in the report to continue to supply PPE to individuals in an emergency and on a short term basis at no charge are in accordance with the Council’s powers (general power of competence) and do not raise issues in relation to trading for profit as no charge is proposed.

                                                                   

            Lawyer Consulted: Elizabeth Culbert                                           Date: 04/09/20

 

            Equalities Implications:

 

7.3      Community Hub colleagues have offered to provide telephone support to individuals who don’t have digital access with their PPE needs.

 

            Sustainability Implications:

 

7.4       Actions that are being taken:

·         The PPE requests are combined wherever possible for multiple weeks to reduce the number of deliveries/collections needed.

·         Making external organisations independent of the council PPE provision has provided a sustainable solution in case of future outbreaks.

·         Reusable PPE items are being explored when new orders are placed. Unfortunately, other than eye protection, it has not been possible to find a solution which would be acceptable from infection control point of view.

·         The type of aprons which are now procured has reduced plastic use.

·         The rational use of PPE guidance has been updated to clarify what PPE is needed under which circumstances so that PPE is not used when not needed. Our rationale document does not promote PPE just-in-case.

·         The revised guidance also has clarified the correct waste management process which has been shared with all key contacts in BHCC.

·         Quality standards for CQC registered provider includes PPE disposal as one of the key lines of inquiry.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

 

Appendix 1 – Management information

 

 

 

 

Appendix 1: Management Information

 

 

Week No.

w/c

BHCC Staff

Care Sector

Childcare

Commissioned or Partner

Education

Individuals

TOTAL

1

Apr-06

12

57

 

19

 

 

88

2

Apr-13

10

95

 

22

 

 

127

3

Apr-20

67

41

 

13

1

8

130

4

Apr-27

74

59

 

16

4

6

159

5

May-04

6

44

 

18

1

8

77

6

May-11

49

51

 

15

5

22

142

7

May-18

10

39

 

13

2

11

75

8

May-25

20

39

10

13

17

6

105

9

Jun-01

14

38

16

10

25

3

106

10

Jun-08

49

40

3

11

13

5

121

11

Jun-15

12

34

3

17

4

4

74

12

Jun-22

32

32

1

12

4

7

88

13

Jun-29

39

4

1

9

2

 

55

14

Jul-06

20

46

 

15

2

3

86

15

Jul-13

25

21

1

16

1

4

68

16

Jul-20

27

18

 

11

3

5

64

17

Jul-27

7

12

 

4

1

2

26

18

Aug-03

14

11

 

3

 

3

31

19

Aug-10

23

6

 

2

 

2

33

20

Aug-17

11

6

 

2

1

1

21

21

Aug-24

19

6

 

2

 

1

28

 

 

Services

Allocations

Items

BHCC Staff

125

540

      633,882

Care Sector

148

698

      642,718

Childcare

33

35

        17,980

Commissioned or Partner

96

243

      157,716

Education

54

86

        77,884

Individuals

86

102

        31,432

542

1704

   1,561,612