What's New Bulletin 95 - 26 May 2022
This is the ninety 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.
- Cost of Care Exercise 2022 – Home Support, Extra Care and Supported Living (information for all Birmingham home support, extra care and supported living providers)
- Cost of Care Exercise 2022 – Care homes (information for all Birmingham care homes)
- REMINDER Planning ahead for the Commonwealth Games road closures – less than 10 weeks to go (information for all providers)
- IMPORTANT payment information for suppliers: Birmingham City Council transition to Oracle Cloud (information for all Birmingham contracted providers)
- REMINDER URGENT - Please complete this short questionnaire about Digital Social Care Records and Falls Prevention/Detection technology by 29 May 2022 (information for Birmingham care homes)
- Care England survey on the impact of rising agency costs – deadline 1 June 2022 (information for all providers)
- GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION Operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs – consultation close date 7 June 2022 (information for all providers)
- EXTENDED DEADLINE Department of Health and Social Care - Care Market Survey 7 June 2022 (information for all providers)
- Modern slavery - Awareness information workshop for social care providers Webinar 7 June 2022, 1pm to 3pm (information for all providers)
- Data Security and Protection (DSP) Toolkit support webinars for providers (information for providers with CQC registered locations in Birmingham and Solihull)
- Letter from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) re the Capacity Tracker and provider event re future data collection 13 June 2022 (information for all providers)
- Skills for Care Midlands Nominated Individual network meeting 15 June 2022 (information for all providers)
1. Cost of Care Exercise 2022 – Home Support, Extra Care and Supported Living (information for all Birmingham home support, extra care and supported living providers)
We are giving advance warning that we shall be launching our annual cost of care exercise during the week commencing 6 June 2022 with a submission deadline of Sunday 10 July. Full instructions will be issued in due course. However, we recommend that in order to be prepared for the exercise you visit the Local Government Association website using the link below, where you will be able to find a copy of the cost of care tool, full guidance and available support.
Homecare Cost of Care Toolkit | Local Government Association
2. Cost of Care Exercise 2022 – Care homes (information for all Birmingham care homes)
As previously communicated we will be launching our annual cost of care exercise during June 2022. Full instructions will be issued in due course. This year we will be using an online cost of care tool called Care Cubed – Fair Cost of Care. So you are able to complete the exercise you are now required to register your interest so you can create your account and enter data. You should register your interest with Care Cubed using the link below:
Fair Cost of Care Tool - Care Providers - register interest
Please note large care provider organisations will need to create an account for the group organisation and NOT at individual care home level. If you are the recipient of this message in a care home please ensure that the home’s Nominated Individual (as registered with the CQC) and your organisation head office are informed and made aware of what they need to do.
An Awareness pack has been created for care providers which contains details of how to register and access the tool, as well as overview videos about the tool and how to enter data. You can access the Awareness pack using the link below
https://iese.org.uk/cost-of-care-tool-awareness-pack-care-providers
Fair Cost of Care Awareness Pack
3. REMINDER Planning ahead for the Commonwealth Games road closures – less than 10 weeks to go (information for all providers)
During the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham this summer (28 July to 8 August 2022), there will be a number of road events which will result in road closures and overall increases in demand for public transport for the duration of the games. Please ensure business continuity plans are reviewed and updated as needed. Public drop-in sessions are taking place in April and May for residents and businesses to ask questions about preparations for Birmingham 2022, in Birmingham City Centre, Edgbaston, Perry Barr, Sutton Coldfield and wards along the Marathon route.
A full list of the events can be found below;
Get set for the Games - drop-in sessions
All events | Birmingham City Council (bebirmingham.co.uk)
4. IMPORTANT payment information for suppliers: Birmingham City Council transition to Oracle Cloud (information for all Birmingham contracted providers)
On 11 April 2022, Birmingham City Council transitioned to using Oracle Cloud for all its HR, Finance and Procurement transactions. Due to the scale and complexity of this change, it required us to stop processing payments for a short time. All efforts are being made to clear those invoices we were unable to process for a couple of weeks whilst this change took place, including allocating additional resource to our teams. Our systems are up and running, however, our return to business-as-usual processing levels is taking a little longer than anticipated. We appreciate your patience and co-operation while our new system and processes get up-to-speed.
A full message with information on how you can help ensure your invoices are processed as quickly as possible and for other key information relating to payments, has been circulated to providers. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Please be assured that all outstanding invoices will be processed. If your payment is urgent, please contact your primary contact in the city council or the Trust, as this will enable our accounts payable team to concentrate on processing payments as quickly as possible. Please share this information with your respective finance and credit control teams.
5. REMINDER URGENT - Please complete this short questionnaire about Digital Social Care Records and Falls Prevention/Detection technology by 29 May 2022 (information for all Birmingham providers)
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS) needs information about whether care homes in its area have adopted Digital Social Care Records, and are using Falls Prevention and Detection technology. This information has to be submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care by 1 June 2022 to unlock funding to assist with digital transformation of social care services in our area.
We are asking you to complete a short questionnaire by 29 May 2022. This should take less than 10 minutes. The link to the questionnaire is below:
Digital Social Care Records and Falls Prevention/Detection technology questionnaire
6. Care England survey on the impact of rising agency costs – deadline 1 June 2022 (information for all providers)
Care England are looking for views from social care providers on how rising agency costs for nurses and carers are specifically impacting their services. Please spend a few minutes responding to the survey. Information received through the survey is handled confidentially by Care England;and remains anonymous.
The survey can be found below:
Agency Fees for Social Care Survey (surveymonkey.co.uk)
7. GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION Operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs – consultation close date 7 June 2022 (information for all providers)
The Government are making some new rules about how people pay for their care and support. Please tell us what you think about the rules and how we explain them. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 7 June 2022.
Full details of the consultation can be found below;
Operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs (easy read) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
8. EXTENDED DEADLINE Department of Health and Social Care - Care Market Survey 7 June 2022 (information for all providers)
On 7 September 2021, the Prime Minister announced changes that will affect the care home and home care provider market. To help understand this market better, DHSC is asking care home and home care providers to complete their survey now available within the Capacity Tracker; Care Home and Home Care providers can access the survey from their respective Manage your care homes or Manage your home care provider pages. The deadline for responding has been extended to 7 June 2022. The survey is an opportunity for providers to share information about who is receiving care in their service and information about that care. This will help DHSC to understand what its reforms will mean in practice for residents, service users, and provider businesses. It will also help monitor how reform is affecting the care market in the coming months.
If you have any further questions relating to the DHSC Care Home and Home Care Markets Survey, please email: capacitytrackerfeeratesurvey@dhsc.gov.uk
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.
9. Modern slavery - Awareness information workshop for social care providers Webinar 7 June 2022, 1pm to 3pm (information for all providers)
Providing modern slavery awareness is key to increasing victim identification and helping survivors to access statutory support. Everyone has a role in spotting the signs of modern slavery and responding to it, and we have a shared duty of care to ensure that people arriving in the UK from Ukraine, and other countries, are protected from the risk of abuse, harm or neglect. This informative workshop is for social care providers interested in understanding more about modern slavery in the UK today and helping to identify when someone might be a victim of modern slavery.
10. Data Security and Protection (DSP) Toolkit support webinars for providers (information for providers with CQC registered locations in Birmingham and Solihull)
Digital Social Care are putting on a number of webinars to help providers with completing the DSP Toolkit for the first time or to review and republish. You can book on the webinars by clicking on the dates below:
Using the DSPT for the first time
Review and republish your DSPT
The DSPT for local authority inhouse adult social care services
If you would like any further help or guidance please contact england.midlandsageingwell@nhs.net.
For further information about the DSPT, please visit the web pages below:
Better Security, Better Care | Birmingham City Council
The Data Security and Protection Toolkit - Digital Social Care
11. Letter from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) re the Capacity Tracker and provider event re future data collection 13 June 2022 (information for all providers)
The DHSC would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to you all for your continued efforts in submitting data via the Capacity Tracker. The reports built from the information you submit are regularly and frequently used by all parts of DHSC Social Care Group, Ministers, Secretary of State, LGA, ADASS, care provider groups, NHS England, CQC and Cabinet Office. Response rates have remained consistently high all year for both care homes and home care, which means the DHSC, central government partners and the wider care system are confident they continue to derive an accurate insight into your work from the information you submit.
The DHSC are continuing to develop proposals for a future data collection from care providers beyond the current collection set up and collected through Capacity Tracker.
There is a large provider workshop on 13 June from 2pm to 4pm. To sign up to the workshop, please email providerdata@dhsc.gov.uk
12. Skills for Care Midlands Nominated Individual network meeting 15 June 2022 (information for all providers)
We are holding our first face to face meeting of the Midlands Nominated Individual network in over 2 years. We are meeting at a venue close to Birmingham New Street station. It will be a chance to network with colleagues as well as to hear speakers from CQC & DBS; West Midlands ADASS are also attending to update us on latest information regarding changes to the Mental Capacity Act and LPS. A few places are still left, newcomers will be made very welcome. For details see the link below: