What's New Bulletin 84 - 10 March 2022
This is the eighty third weekly provider bulletin, containing information on guidance, procedures and new initiatives. Very urgent or high priority communications may still be issued on an ad hoc basis, but we will try to keep these to a minimum.
COVID RELATED INFORMATION
- NEW GUIDANCE COVID-19 vaccination: spring booster resources (information for all providers)
- National Capacity Tracker provider training session (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Please continue to encourage staff to have both Covid-19 vaccinations, boosters and flu vaccinations (information for all providers)
IN OTHER NEWS
- Open Book 2021 care cost exercise reports (information for all providers contracted with Birmingham City Council)
- REMINDER Capacity Tracker Care Home Deterioration Tool Survey deadline 31 March 2022 (information for all care homes)
- REMINDER Webinar on the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) regulatory approach 24 March 2022 (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Free End of Life and Palliative Care Webinars – various dates (information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Home and Home Support providers)
COVID Related information
1. NEW GUIDANCE COVID-19 vaccination: spring booster resources (information for all providers)
Guidance containing information on the spring booster dose for eligible individuals has now been published. It is not know yet whether questions around the second booster will be added to the Capacity Tracker, but we will keep you updated via this bulletin.
The full guidance can be found below:
COVID-19 vaccination: spring booster resources
2. National Capacity Tracker provider training session (information for all providers)
30 minute provider training sessions have been arranged for providers aimed at new starters and those that would like a refresh on how to update the Capacity Tracker and the background as to why it is important. The request for providers to complete the Capacity Tracker is ongoing and the data being collected through the system and its frequency is currently being reviewed by the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure the data collected is of most value. The information collected through the system will continue to be used to influence national and local policy and to identify areas of support for providers.
The following training dates are available;
Home Support: 17 March 2022 1:30pm to 2pm
Care Homes: 22 March 2022 1pm to 1:30pm
Home Support: 29 March 2022 11am to 11:30am
3. REMINDER Please continue to encourage staff to have both Covid-19 vaccinations, boosters and flu vaccinations (information for all providers)
Vaccination still remains our very best line of defence against COVID-19 and protection for the vulnerable people that access your services. We are asking for dialogue to continue with staff in all social care setting about the benefits of vaccination and would like to remind you about the attached Department of Health and Social Care vaccine communications toolkit for adult social care staff. The communications toolkit can be used to provide information and resources to social care workers in all care settings in England about the COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine.
Please also continue to ensure you are regularly updating the National Capacity Tracker with your staffs vaccination status. The Capacity Tracker can be accessed below:
If you have questions or queries regarding how to update the data and where to report specific scenarios, please contact capacitytracker-guidance@dhsc.gov.uk.
If you are experiencing technical issues with Capacity Tracker, please contact necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net or the Capacity Tracker Support Centre on 0191-691-3729.
In other news…
4. Open Book 2021 care cost exercise reports (information for all providers contracted with Birmingham City Council)
In Autumn 2021 Birmingham City Council Adult Social Care Commissioning Team carried out an ‘Open Book’ cost analysis exercise and invited care homes, home support and supported living locations holding contracts with the Council and Birmingham and Solihull CCG to submit a range of cost, occupancy and funding data. The data has been analysed and is presented in reports which have been circulated to providers. Some of the data has been used to inform the Councils fee increases for the year 2022 to 2023 for contracted care homes, home support and supported living services – the fee increase methodology used for setting fees for the year 2022 to 2023 is set out in a power point presentation which has been circulated to providers.
The data is presented in the form of an interactive Microsoft Excel document. This has been designed with transparency in mind, and to allow the user to select and view a range of data based on different variables. Guidance documents which have been circulated to providers help you navigate the report and select the data you wish to view.
If you haven't got copies of the documents referred to above, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
While it is publishing the data, the Council will not, at this stage, enter into dialogue with care providers, answer specific questions or points raised about individual data or comments made about the figures or costs identified in the report. Nor will it provide further analysis in response to queries. lease note that the report outputs are representative of care locations which supplied data to us through this process, and it does not represent all care locations in Birmingham or all care locations which the Council or Birmingham and Solihull CCG contracts with.
5. REMINDER Capacity Tracker Care Home Deterioration Tool Survey deadline 31 March 2022 (information for all care homes)
Following on from the first Deterioration Survey, published in August 2021, the second care home Deterioration Survey is now live on the Capacity Tracker and will close on 31 March 2022. The survey only has to be completed once by each care home and should take no longer than five minutes to complete. A notification for the survey can be found on the Capacity Tracker homepage when logged on. (see item 3 above for the link to the Tracker)
By completing the survey care homes will be helping the NHS National Patient Safety Improvement Team, including Patient Safety Collaboratives through the Academic Health Science Network, to understand more about what happens when residents experience an episode of acute physical deterioration. It will help the team to understand which tools are used and how deteriorating residents are identified, and managed, across care homes in England.
NHS National Patient Safety Improvement Team
Academic Health Science Network
To find out more about the deterioration work the team are doing, the tools which can be used and how to get in touch please click this link:
Supporting resident safety in Care Homes
6.REMINDER Webinar on the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) regulatory approach 24 March 2022 (information for all providers)
Join the latest CQC webinar where they will update you on their current regulatory approach and share the latest on what their new regulatory model will look like. The webinar will take place on Thursday 24 March 10am to 11am, and will be led by Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care.
There will be a presentation and time to answer questions. Sign up to the webinar below;
7. REMINDER Free End of Life and Palliative Care Webinars – various dates (information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Home and Home Support providers)
Commissioned by Birmingham & Solihull CCG in collaboration with Marie Curie and St Giles Hospice, these live webinars are delivered by Palliative Care experts from The Hospice Charity Partnership (Birmingham St Mary’s and John Taylor Hospice) Marie Curie and St Giles. Each live webinar is free to join and will enable you to share and learn from experiences, and will equip you with the tools and resources you need to confidently manage difficult conversations and support your patients their families.
We would encourage all staff supporting people with learning disabilities to attend sessions that may be relevant to their practice. We know that people with learning disabilities often experience challenges at the end of their life and providers may need some support in knowing how best to support the individuals during this part of their life.
The following webinar training events aim to improve confidence, knowledge and skills in regards to end of life and palliative care to COVID and non COVID patients.
- Verification of death – Friday 18 March 3pm to 4pm
- Oral care – Wednesday 30 March 3pm to 4pm
Please use the link below to book onto the sessions and continue to check the website for future sessions: