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Chapter 5: Local authority children's services (eg children's centres, statutory youth services etc)
Overview
5.1 Local authorities have a pivotal role in assisting their planning and delivery partners to prepare for a flu pandemic. This role is important in all three stages of a pandemic:
A. Preparation before a pandemic;
B. Operation of services and advice to the public and service providers during a pandemic; and
C. Ensuring a smooth transition to normal operation of services when the pandemic has passed.
5.2 Local authority service managers and planners should familiarise themselves with all parts of this guidance, Preparing Scotland, and the public health advice from UK Health Departments, Health Protection Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive (see Chapter 1 and Annex A for details).
5.3 The local authority will have an important role in communications during all stages of preparing for and dealing with a pandemic and its aftermath. Relevant Directors of Service should ensure that local authority children's services and children's services in the community receive and act on these communications.
5.4 When a flu pandemic is imminent and throughout the period of the pandemic the local authority should adopt a 'business as usual, so far as possible' approach - subject to any specific national advice about schools and group childcare settings that may be issued by the Executive to safeguard children's health and welfare. This present guidance is mainly concerned with our priority to promote the health and well-being of as many children as possible (and therefore the arrangements for the full range of children's services), but also recognises the responsibilities of local authorities as employers and providers of services.
5.5 In their planning, service managers should take account of possible extra demands on their services because of the pandemic: for example, might the number of parents and carers infected mean an increased demand for short-term (foster/respite) care provision because of parents being temporarily unable to look after their own children.
5.6 Previous chapters of this guidance have set out the local authority's role as a provider of school education, childcare and early years services, and Children's Residential Units. They have also clarified the authority's role as the communications link between SCG's and schools and children's services.
5.7 This brief chapter offers general guidance to managers of other children's services for which local authorities are responsible. As each local authority will have variations in the range and deployment of such services based on the local needs detailed in the area's Integrated Children's Services Plan, it is not possible to offer detailed advice for every service and setting in every area. One useful source of general advice for employers and employees is the Health and Safety Executive's fact sheet Pandemic Influenza, which you can find at http://www.hse.gov.uk/biosafety/diseases/pandemic.htm along with other guidance and information. Annex A to this guidance provides more information and advice.
What you should do now
5.8 You should check your preparations for the pandemic with your Director of Service , and particularly:
A. Familiarise yourself with overall Government information and advice on pandemic flu planning, including any specific guidance relevant to your service (links in Annex A)
B. Check with your Director of Service who will communicate any messages from the Strategic Co-ordinating Group ( SCG) to your service, and collect any information from you, in the event of a pandemic; this would include advice on maintaining services so far as possible, and for possible closure/reopening of services if and where that is appropriate;
C. Ensure that you have procedures for keeping up to date your contact lists for staff, parents and children. Ensure you have plans to use more than one method of communication with parents - preferably tried and tested methods. You might have obtained good results from:
- Letters, by post or taken home by the children;
- text-messaging;
- email;
- parents volunteering to phone others;
- or even, in some circumstances, local radio.
D. Ensure that you have procedures for keeping up to date your contact lists for partners and service providers in the independent, private and voluntary sectors, including independent schools, residential special schools, children's residential units and early years settings.
E. Keep up to date lists of employees who hold relevant qualifications for working with children, and who have Disclosure Scotland checks, who may be redeployed to cover absent staff in front line services.
F. Draw up contingency plans for dealing with increased levels of staff absence; as part of this, agree the priority parts of the service to be maintained; also agree what level of staff absence, if any, would require the closure of the service;
G. Make plans to ensure your service is fully equipped with materials needed to implement infection control measures ( e.g. tissues and tissue-disposal; hot water and soap), in time to cope with any imminent pandemic;
H. Check arrangements for supporting those staff who need time off to care for dependents;
I. Ensure that policies for applying for medical leave are in place, respecting confidentiality, and publicised to all staff. Ensure that all staff are aware that government advice is that they should not come to work if they think they are unwell, throughout the pandemic;
J. Check arrangements to support staff and children who are bereaved.
5.9 There are other issues which might need to be considered so that arrangements are in place before a pandemic begins. You should seek input from service managers and involve staff and professional associations and unions to help consider how far it might be practical and sustainable to implement any of the following:
- cover arrangements if a senior post is vacant, or senior staff fall ill;
- cover for staff absent (for any reason), if service stays open;
- staff willing to take on a different role during the pandemic, taking account of any contractual restrictions and professional associations and unions' views;
- sharing staff between services;
- options for unqualified adults/ parent volunteer helpers when staff absent;
- Ensuring backup arrangements for premises officers/key holders, bearing in mind requirements of insurance cover and health and safety risk assessment;
- Heating of buildings if premises officer absent.
- Maintaining health and safety and hygiene arrangements to a high standard e.g. cleaning toilets and prompt disposal of waste, at time when improved hygiene is required;
- Continuity of meals provision/advising parents of alternatives
- help your staff to access Scottish Executive Health Department information (which will be available in print and online);
- Need for additional risk assessments where staff are transferred to unfamiliar tasks.
What you should do during a pandemic
5.10 If your service remains open during a pandemic, a top priority will be to ensure that infection control is practised consistently and rigorously throughout the service.
5.11 As part of their duty for the welfare of staff who are ill and their colleagues who are well, managers should take all reasonable steps to ensure that employees who are ill, or who think they may be ill, are positively encouraged not to come into work.
5.12 During the pandemic you should provide support to staff who are sick or bereaved, and deal sympathetically with requests for leave to care for sick dependents. Ensure that health and safety responsibilities to staff continue to be fully discharged.
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