What's New Bulletin 85 - 17 March 2022
This is the eighty fifth 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
- UPDATED GUIDANCE Visiting arrangements in care homes (information for all care homes)
- REMINDER Please continue to encourage staff to have both Covid-19 vaccinations, boosters and flu vaccinations (information for all providers)
- REMINDER National Capacity Tracker provider training session (information for all providers)
IN OTHER NEWS
- REMINDER Notice of Contract Extensions (information for Birmingham City Council contracted home support providers)
- REMINDER Fee Increases 2022/23 (information for all contracted providers)
- REMINDER Capacity Tracker Care Home Deterioration Tool Survey deadline 31 March 2022 (information for all care homes)
COVID RELATED INFORMATION
1. UPDATED GUIDANCE Visiting arrangements in care homes (information for all care homes)
This guidance sets out how care homes can support families and visitors to visit residents. Section 1.3 has been updated to reflect regulations revoking vaccination as a condition of deployment came into force on 15 March 2022. People working or volunteering in care homes are no longer required to have received a COVID-19 vaccine to enter the premises. The full guidance can be found below:
Visiting arrangements in care homes
2. 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.
Guidance containing information on the spring booster dose for eligible individuals has now been published. It is not known 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
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.
3. REMINDER 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 - click on the links below to join the sessions:
Care Homes: 22 March 2022 1pm to 1:30pm
Home Support: 29 March 2022 11am to 11:30am
IN OTHER NEWS
4. REMINDER Notice of Contract Extensions (information for Birmingham City Council contracted home support providers)
Notices of contract extensions for the following Framework Agreements have been circulated to providers
- Home Support for Children and Young People with Disabilities and Home Support for Adults
- Quick Discharge and Quick Intervention Services for Home Support for Adults
If you don't have copies of the notices, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Should there be any queries or feedback in relation to these notifications please email Chris MacAdams, Commissioning Manager, Commissioning (Adult Care) at chris.macadams@birmingham.gov.uk
5. REMINDER Fee Increases 2022/23 (information for all contracted providers)
Just a reminder that the Council has concluded its fee setting process for contracted care homes, home support, supported living and extra care provision for the year 2022/23. The new fees, along with the invoice and payment schedules have now been published on our website and will be applicable from Monday 4 April 2022.
Invoice, payment and fees | Birmingham City Council
For home support and supported living providers who submit monthly invoices, please note that invoices you submit for the period 4/4/22 – 1/5/22 should be invoiced at the new rate.
For all contracted providers, we will be amending our payment systems in time to allow your payments to be processed promptly.
6. 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. For the link to the National Tracker, please see Item 2 above.
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 see below: