What's New Bulletin 114 - 6 October 2022
This is edition 114 of the 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.
- UPDATED GUIDANCE Free personal protective equipment (PPE) scheme (Information for all providers)
- Government announces plan to improve care and support this winter (information for all providers)
- Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Cost of Living Support (information for all Birmingham providers)
- Digitising health and care for better services and how to keep data safe and secure (information for all providers)
- REMINDER NHS mail Weekly Drop-in Sessions, Hosted by The NHS mail team at NHS Digital (information for all providers)
- Deterioration Tool Survey – extended deadline 14 October 2022 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
- Deterioration Network Meeting dates in November (information for all care homes in Birmingham and Solihull)
- Help the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shape how they will report following assessments (information for all providers)
- Care Quality Commission New Methodology Guide produced by The Access Group (information for all providers)
1. UPDATED GUIDANCE Free personal protective equipment (PPE) scheme (Information for all providers)
This guidance covers the provision of free PPE for all health, social care and public sector workers for COVID-19 infection control, between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023.
It has been updated to say that the previous IPC guidance for PPE is now the National Infection Prevention Control Manual (NIPCM) guidance, and the free PPE scheme has been extended until the end of March 2023 or until the NIPCM guidance is withdrawn or significantly amended.
The full guidance can be found below:
Free personal protective equipment (PPE) scheme
2. Government announces plan to improve care and support this winter (information for all providers)
Health and Social Care Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Thérèse Coffey has announced the Government’s new plan for patients to improve care and support this winter and next.
As part of the plan to help people get out of hospitals and into social care support, the government has set up a £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund.
New funding to bolster patient care over winter
With 13,000 patients in hospital beds who should be receiving care in the community, this money will help reduce ambulance delays and improve the flow of people through emergency departments.
3. Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills (information for all providers)
The Government have announced a scheme to provide businesses - including care providers - with a discount on wholesale gas and electricity bills to help cope with rising energy costs.
This will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The savings will be first seen in October bills, which are typically received in November.
For further information see link below:
Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills for businesses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
4. REMINDER Cost of Living Support (information for all Birmingham providers)
Please share the following message and information with your staff for their own use and also to signpost service users to if they express concerns about the rising cost of living;
Are you worried about the rising cost of energy bills, food and transport? You are not alone; the cost of living crisis is affecting many of us.
You may want help accessing grants and debt advice, support getting all the money you're entitled to, or simply want to know more about the government's recent support measures.
Whatever your money worries may be, Birmingham City Council have put together some helpful information to help you - see link below:
Cost of living support | Birmingham City Council
If you are experiencing immediate problems, please call 0121 303 1116.
5. Digitising health and care for better services and how to keep data safe and secure (information for all providers)
NHS England colleagues, working on health and care sector digitisation, as well as the wider DHSC reform agenda, will be eager to speak to you about getting involved at next month's Care Show. The event takes place at the Birmingham NEC on 12-13 October 2022. Visit stand 3A in the exhibition hall to find out more and click the link below! NHS England colleagues, working on health and care sector digitisation, as well as the wider DHSC reform agenda, will be eager to speak to you about getting involved
Concerned about how to keep client information safe online? Care providers must store and share information securely, but how can they make sure it’s protected? Digital Social Care offers free guidance, tools and advice services to help colleagues understand and improve their data protection and cyber security arrangements.
Find out more about Digital Social Care below:
Data protection and cyber security
6. REMINDER NHS mail Weekly Drop-in Sessions, Hosted by The NHS mail team at NHS Digital (information for all providers)
The NHS mail team now offer care providers a weekly drop-in session to support with NHS mail queries. There will be no agenda or slides, this is an open session to give care providers the opportunity to ask questions about NHSmail, directly to the NHSmail team, just pop in, ask your question and leave once you have your answer. No registration is required to attend but please note this session is for care providers only and not those in supportive roles for NHS mail.
Please click on the link below to join the session on the day.
NHS Mail drop-in session - Every Wednesday between 11am and 12pm
7. Deterioration Tool Survey – extended deadline 14 October 2022 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
It has been a while since the deterioration survey was last distributed and West Midlands Academic Health Science Network in partnership with the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board would like to send around a quick 1-minute survey to care homes to see where they are now.
Birmingham and Solihull Deterioration Tools Survey
The last day to respond to the survey will be 14 October 2022.
8. Deterioration Network Meeting dates in November (information for all care homes in Birmingham and Solihull)
Details of the End of Life webinars ran by St Giles Hospice and the November programme aimed at health and social care professionals, have been circulated to providers. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
There are a number of free care home places available. If you have any queries, please contact the Education Team at education@stgileshospice.com.
9. Help the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shape how they will report following assessments (information for all providers)
The CQC are making updates to the reports they publish on health and social care providers. These updates include the layout on their website, sections and information on how the CQC have assessed providers. These changes are part of the work the CQC are doing to meet their strategy ambitions and reflect the way people use services through their regulation.
The CQC would like your feedback to help shape this work.
You can find more details on the CQC’s proposed changes and a survey to share your thoughts on the digital engagement platform, CitizenLab (you'll need to sign up / log in to access this).
CQC Digital engagement platform
For more detail on how the CQC are proposing to change the way they publish assessments, you can watch a recording from a recent webinar where they CQC describe what might change and why.
Publish findings from CQC assessments
After watching the video please share your thoughts through a short survey.
Survey - Publish findings from CQC assessments
10. Care Quality Commission New Methodology Guide produced by The Access Group (information for all providers)
Together with care consultancy Duffy and Shaw, The Access Group have put together a free guide on about the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection and rating methods. This includes retiring the KLOEs (Key Lines of Enquiry), introducing new inspection methods and more.
Download the guide to be prepared for the upcoming changes below: