HOW TO USE THE COVID-19 COMMUNITY SHIELDING PLAN WHEN PROVIDING CARE IN DOMESTIC SETTINGS

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This tool helps you to make best use of your staff resource in order to minimise risk to your clients, your staff and your business's future. 

Using this tool correctly will save lives and protect the NHS.

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1. Assess your care workers  - gemstone system

Using your employee records, assess your operational staff as follows:

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RUBY - these staff have not yet had any symptoms so may be carrying the virus in its incubation stage and hence pose a risk to vulnerable clients.
TOPAZ - in the past 2 months, these staff have self assessed, or ideally, GP/111 assessed, symptoms, and are now recovered. They don’t need to have been tested to be considered unlikely to now be carrying the virus.
EMERALD - these staff have tested antigen positive since January 2020 and are very unlikely to be carrying the virus since there is generally a period of immunity.

DIAMOND - these staff have tested antibody positive  and should not be carrying the virus (test not yet available)

2. Assess your households - traffic lights system

Using up to date guidance on vulnerability to COVID-19:

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RED - households in which there are two or more people who are vulnerable to COVID-19
AMBER  - households in which there is one person vulnerable to COVID-19
GREEN - households where no-one is vulnerable to COVID-19

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3. Draw up your rosters as follows:

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3a. As far as possible, clients in RED households should only be visited by EMERALD / DIAMOND  staff.

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3b. As far as possible, clients in AMBER households should only be visited by TOPAZ/EMERALD/DIAMOND staff.

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3c. Re-assess your staff weekly and/or as staff return to work.

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This Action Plan has been developed by a group of professionals with backgrounds in service provision for domestic households.

Using this Action Plan to draw up your rosters, will help you to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

It will help you to make clear decisions about staff deployment and identify the households with
the greatest risk of spread.

It will demonstrate that your business is doing the best it can to reduce risk of spread of COVID-19.

And it will protect your business's continuity by ensuring your clients remain in the community with your staff continuing to care for them.