What's New Bulletin 93 - 12 May 2022
This is the ninety 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.
- Cost of care exercise 2022 (information for all Birmingham providers)
- Reminder: please register for the one remaining Home Care Cost of Care Toolkit demo and Q&A (information for all home support providers)
- PRESS RELEASE Increased funding for nursing in care homes (information for all care homes)
- ACTION NEEDED OUTSTANDING RETURNS Infection Control and Testing Fund round 3 – Final spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)
- ACTION NEEDED OUTSTANDING RETURNS Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund round 1 and 2 – Final spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for adult social care services (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Please ensure you are continuing to report Covid positive cases at your service (information for all providers)
- West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) event on Acute Assessment and Medical Care without Transfer to Hospital 10 June 2022 (information for all care homes)
- Free patient safety training for care home staff (information for all care homes)
- Skills for Care updates for registered managers (information for all providers)
- Staff wellbeing and caring for each other for care home staff FREE webinar 21 June 2022 - correct link for booking a space (information for all Care Homes)
- National Capacity Tracker provider refresher/induction training session (information for all providers)
1. Cost of care exercise 2022 (information for all Birmingham providers)
Further to the government’s publication of the ‘Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund’ we have made the decision to bring forward this year’s cost of care / ‘open book’ exercise. While we have previously carried out exercises in August and September, we are intending to run this year’s process in May and June.
As with previous exercises we will be requiring all contracted care homes and CQC registered home support and supported living locations to complete and submit a cost of care template as well as encouraging all non-contracted Birmingham located over-65 care homes and CQC registered home support locations to do so. The exercise will commence initially with home support and supported living and will be followed shortly after by care homes. While we understand the additional impact on you of bringing the exercise forward we are keen to use the most up to date cost data to inform the cost of care report and our market sustainability plan which we are required to submit to the Department of Health and Social Care in October 2022.
The Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund is part of the government’s programme of social care reform. The primary purpose of the fund is to support local authorities to prepare their markets for reform and to support local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care. You can learn more about the Fund by following the link below to the government guidance:
Market sustainability and fair cost of care fund - 2022 to 2023 guidance
We are intending to establish two provider representative groups to help us promote the exercise but also to be involved in the development of the market sustainability plan – one group for home support provision and one group for over-65 / older adult care homes provision. We are seeking expressions of interest to join these groups so if you are interested then please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk indicating your interest, supplying your name, position, email address and the name of your care home or home support location.
2. Reminder: please register for the one remaining Home Care Cost of Care Toolkit demo and Q&A: (information for all home support providers)
Home Care CoC Toolkit Demo and Q&A – 19 May from 10am to 11:30am
3. PRESS RELEASE Increased funding for nursing in care homes (information for all care homes)
The government have announced the standard weekly rate per person provided for NHS-funded nursing care has increased by 11.5% from £187.60 to £209.19 for 2022 to 2023 and will be backdated to 1 April 2022. In recognition of the additional time and work provided by nurses in care homes during the pandemic, a retrospective uplift on the 2021 to 2022 rate has also been applied providing an estimated additional £87 million to the sector. The funding is paid by the NHS directly to care homes who employ registered nurses. This allows care home residents with specific healthcare needs to benefit from direct nursing care and services.
The full press release can be found below:
Increased funding for nursing in care homes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
4. ACTION NEEDED OUTSTANDING RETURNS Infection Control and Testing Fund round 3 – Final spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)
Further to the distribution of Infection Control and Testing Fund 3 grant payments, a significant number of care homes and community care locations have not submitted spend returns as required by the grant conditions. Please the lists which have been sent to you, which detail those locations which had not submitted returns as at 25 April 2022 and complete and submit the spend return using the links to the online forms below. N.B. the attachments contain two tabs – one for care homes and one for community care locations. If spend returns are not received by 20 May 2022 you will not be able to submit a return and we shall initiate the process to invoice you for the return of the full grant amount.
Care Homes ICTF final spending report
Community Care ICTF final spending report
Please ensure that you input the correct CQC location name and ID number when completing the forms. Incorrect details will render the form invalid and it will be classified as a non-return.
5. ACTION NEEDED OUTSTANDING RETURNS Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund round 1 and 2 – Final spend reporting (information for all Birmingham providers)
Further to the distribution of the Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund round 1 and 2 grant funding, a significant number of care homes and community care locations have not submitted spend returns as required by the grant conditions. Please check the lists which have been sent to you, which detail those locations which had not submitted returns as at 25 April 2022 and complete and submit the spend return using the links to the online forms below. N.B. the attachments contain two tabs – one for care homes and one for community care locations. If spend returns are not received by 20 May 2022 you will not be able to submit a return and we shall initiate the process to invoice you for the return of the full grant amount.
Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund round 1 and 2 final spending report
There is a single form covering both care homes and community care locations – please ensure that you input the correct CQC location name and ID number when completing the forms. Incorrect details will render the form invalid and it will be classified as a non-return.
6. UPDATED GUIDANCE Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for adult social care services (information for all providers)
This guidance outlines the COVID-19 testing available for staff, residents and visitors for all adult social care services. It has been updated to add a care home outbreak testing flowchart: staff and residents (PDF and HTML versions).
The full guidance can be found below;
Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for adult social care services
7. REMINDER Please ensure you are continuing to report Covid positive cases at your service (information for all providers)
This is a reminder that social care providers are still required to inform Birmingham City Council’s Health Protection Response (HPR) Team of all positive cases as Covid19 is a notifiable disease. Checklists should be sent to contacttracing@birmingham.gov.uk as soon as possible. Providers are also required to continue to update the National Capacity Tracker with all positive cases. This information is still being used locally and nationally to monitor Covid-19 cases in social care settings. 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.
8. West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) event on Acute Assessment and Medical Care without Transfer to Hospital 10 June 2022 (information for all care homes)
Next month, the WMAHSN is hosting a virtual event on "Acute Assessment and Medical Care without Hospital Transfer for Older People Living With Frailty". This will be a workshop to update you on models of acute assessment and medical care, that do not require the older person to be transferred to hospital. It will showcase the models used in the West Midlands.
9. Free patient safety training for care home staff (information for all care homes)
We are pleased to announce the availability of the first NHS-wide Patient Safety Syllabus e-learning educational modules, which are now available for all staff in care homes. This will help save lives and protect patients, and is a first syllabus of its kind which will help identify risks proactively in order to prevent errors before they occur. Completion of Levels 1 and 2 are strongly recommended for staff working in care homes to raise awareness of the importance of patient safety and its impact on patient care. The training is free to all staff and each level takes around 30 minutes to complete.
For further information please see the information see Care Home Commsv2 which has been circulated to providers and the link below:
Those with an active NHS, HSCNI, gov.uk, ac.uk or doctors.org are able to register themselves for full free access. Please use the following link to register:
e-Learing for Healthcare registration
10. Skills for Care updates for registered managers (information for all providers)
A list of upcoming events and new resources which might be of interest to registered managers has been circulated to providers. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
11. Staff wellbeing and caring for each other for care home staff FREE webinar 21 June 2022 - correct link for booking a space (information for all Care Homes)
Commissioned by Birmingham & Solihull CCG in collaboration with Marie Curie and St Giles Hospice, this live webinar will be delivered by The Hospice Charity Partnership (Birmingham St Mary’s and John Taylor Hospice) by local Palliative Care experts! The webinar is free to join and will enable you to share and learn from your own and other healthcare professionals experiences. The sessions will equip you with the tools and resources you need to confidently manage challenging situations that may arise when caring for patients with palliative care needs.
You can expect to learn:
• Identifying and acknowledging distress in yourself and others
• Practical tools for supporting yourself and your colleagues
• Self-care tips and empathetic communication
Click on this link below to book a place on the webinar:
12. National Capacity Tracker provider refresher/induction 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;