Cheshire and Merseyside Contact Tracing Hub Stakeholder Information

Cheshire and Merseyside Contact Tracing Hub Stakeholder Information Pack October 2020

Introduction In an ongoing effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in local communities, a Contact Tracing Hub for complex settings has been established in Cheshire and Merseyside. The Hub both complements the national Test and Trace Service and bolsters local resilience, which will be particularly important during the winter period.

About the Hub The purpose of the Hub is to receive information from the national Test and Trace service and local authorities relating to positive cases of COVID-19 in complex settings. These positive cases are then triaged locally, and the Hub works to identify contacts who will be asked to selfisolate for the appropriate number of days. The Hub is currently manned by a team of 20 local contact tracers, who have received training from Public Health England are supported by Consultants and Senior Health Protection Practitioners from PHE.

About the Hub This work is a collaborative effort between Public Health England Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health, scaling up existing arrangements. It is hosted by Wirral Council and day-to-day operations are facilitated by the Champs Public Health Collaborative Support Team.

What is a ‘complex setting’ or ‘case’? Potentially complex settings Special Educational Needs Schools, NHS settings, social care settings, homeless accommodation, domestic violence refuges, police and fire stations, etc. Potentially complex cohorts Rough sleepers, faith communities, asylum seekers, etc. Potentially complex individuals and households Clinically shielded, learning disabilities, diagnosed mental illness, substance misusers, etc. Potentially complex workplaces Office buildings, factories and warehouses, retail settings, etc.

How it works SITUATION: Positive COVID-19 case detected in a complex setting or is deemed a complex case ORIGIN: Where has the case initially been reported? National Test and Trace Programme • • Local Authority • • Automatic referral Call handler escalation Central escalation Direct allocation Director of Public Health Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Operations teams Local outbreak and consequence management team Is the case confirmed as a complex case or setting? (eg. care homes, NHS settings, rough sleepers, etc. ) YES Other system follow up Cheshire and Merseyside Contact Tracing Hub

How it works Cheshire and Merseyside Contact Tracing Hub Case triaged with Hub team leaders Incident management protocol • • • Formal logging and reporting of case Support setting to identify contacts, provide information and advice Outbreak management with Public Health England Inform key stakeholders Support contacts who have been asked to self-isolate Follow up and consequence management • • Reporting back to national Test and Trace service Report back to local authority and Public Health England

Benefits Local intelligence People who live in the area know and understand Cheshire and Merseyside better than a team of national contact tracers. Efficiency The Hub is more agile and can act faster when data becomes available, as with contact tracing and outbreak management, the sooner action is taken the better. Leadership Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health provide strategic leadership, meaning that areas of concentration can be quickly identified and opportunities for collaboration across the region can be actioned quickly. Directors have developed a collaborative outbreak management framework.

Roles and responsibilities Team Leaders • • • Call Handlers • In bound and outbound call handling Contact Tracers • Contact Tracing (in addition to PHE resource specifically for outbreak in complex settings) Administrators • Data processing to support contact tracing delivery and outbreak management Analytical support • GIS, hotspot analysis and data reporting between surveillance systems. Data analysis, data reporting, statutory reports Public Health England Consultant • • • Responsibility for delegation of tasks Oversight of enquiries and situations Supporting contact tracers Escalate issues to consultant Standard Operating Procedures Maintains oversight Senior clinical input for health protection, infection prevention and control and epidemiology Risk assessment and decision that an OCT is required Escalation of situations Contributing to or leading OCT

Next steps Priorities over the next few weeks and months: 1. Ensuring a cohesive and effective system with the local areas/Hub and continuously improving 2. Establishment of a new data management system 3. Introducing specific teams to focus on Cheshire and Merseyside to ensure hyper-localisation 4. Continued mentorship and training for contract tracers 5. Full seven-day, 9 am to 5 pm operation

Our partners

Get in touch To find out more about the Contact Tracing Hub, please contact the Champs Public Health Collaborative Support Team by emailing champscommunications@wirral. gov. uk or calling 0151 666 5123. To refer a case to the Hub, please call 0151 666 3400.