What's New Bulletin 115 - 13 October 2022
This is edition 115 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.
- PEOPLE FIRST: a response from health and care leaders to the urgent and emergency care system crisis (information for all providers)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE Health and Care Act 2022: adult social care provider information provisions (information for all providers)
- Capacity Tracker refresher sessions – including mandatory data completion (information for all providers)
- The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) (information for all providers)
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) Information for providers on the learning disability and autism training requirement (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Deterioration Tool Survey – extended deadline 14 October 2022 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
- REMINDER Please ensure your current insurance documents are uploaded to the CareMatch Portal (information for all Birmingham City Council contracted providers)
- Updated presentation on managing COVID-19 outbreaks in Care Homes (information for all Birmingham care homes)
1. PEOPLE FIRST: a response from health and care leaders to the urgent and emergency care system crisis (information for all providers)
PEOPLE FIRST is a resource to help system leaders and service providers. It was designed and developed:
- using outcomes from CQC's urgent and emergency care workshop, held in May 2022
- by members of the CQC National Emergency Medicine Specialist Advisor Forum.
This new resource recognises the unscheduled care pathway as a continuum, with solutions needed across the artificial divides between primary, secondary, community and social care. It aims to:
- support the design of person-centred urgent and emergency care services
- encourage innovation across integrated care systems.
You can find out more below:
PEOPLE FIRST - Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)
2. UPDATED GUIDANCE Health and Care Act 2022: adult social care provider information provisions (information for all providers)
This guidance is for adult social care providers to comply with information provisions under section 99 and section 100 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
The guidance and formal notice has been updated on the reporting window opening and closing dates. The list of mandatory data items for care home and domiciliary care providers has been updated to include COVID-19 autumn booster data. Annex A changed to reflect the current status of COVID-19 vaccination questions in Capacity Tracker. A new section titled ‘Upcoming changes to workforce data collection and new domiciliary care packages of care collection’ has been added. In the formal notice of mandate document, a link to the draft regulations laid on 5 September 2022 has been added.
The full guidance can be found below:
Health and Care Act 2022: adult social care provider information provisions
3. Capacity Tracker refresher sessions – including mandatory data completion (information for all providers)
30 minute Demonstration Q&A Sessions are available for those new to the Capacity Tracker, or in need of a refresh. The sessions will include how the Capacity Tracker updated screens will look following the introduction of mandatory completion.
To find dates and links to attend the Demonstration Q&A sessions, please log into the Capacity Tracker (link below), go to the Help menu, select 'Resource Centre', then 'Events, and then 'Provider Training Sessions'
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.
November 2022 Drop-in Sessions for Care Homes and Community Services
Wednesday 9 November 2022 11:00
4. The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) (information for all providers)
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will use ASC-WDS as one of the ways to measure the impact that reform initiatives will have on social care providers.
ASC-WDS is managed by Skills for Care. It’s a service which allows providers to store their workforce and training records, access funding for training, and benchmark their workplace. It also produces crucial intelligence which is used to plan and fund the sector. Care providers can also choose to share their data with CQC to help with monitoring activity.
Skills for Care has worked closely with DHSC and care providers to add some new questions to the dataset which will act as a proxy measure to see the impact of changes in the sector. The new questions ask about the ease and cost of recruitment, repetition of training, and employee benefits.
If you already have an ASC-WDS account, sign in to check out the new questions. If you’re new to ASC-WDS, you can find out more, and register for an account on the Skills for Care website below:
Adult Social Care workforce dataset
5. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Information for providers on the learning disability and autism training requirement (information for all providers)
All registered health and social care providers must ensure their staff receive training in how to interact appropriately with autistic people and people who have a learning disability, at a level appropriate to their role. This requirement applies to all services and settings, as well as all health and care staff who may have contact with people with a learning disability and autistic people, including people not directly using their service. The CQC have published information on their website for all providers, explaining how this requirement affects your service. This includes information about the approach the CQC will take, what they will look at when assessing your service, as well as actions they may take if there is evidence of poor care or treatment.
You can read the guidance below:
6. REMINDER 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.
7. REMINDER Please ensure your current insurance documents are uploaded to the CareMatch Portal (information for all Birmingham City Council contracted providers)
It is an important part of your contractual obligations to Birmingham City Council, and a legal requirement, to ensure you have valid insurance at all times. It is important that when you renew your insurance documents you remember to upload a copy to the CareMatch Portal following the instructions in Section 8.8 of the Care Match Portal User Guide;
If you are experiencing technical issues uploading the documents, please contact market.intelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Reminder alerts were added to the CareMatch Portal in December 2020 to inform you when your insurance documents were coming up to their expiry date and when they had expired to assist you to remain compliant with your contractual obligations around insurance. For further information about this CareMatch Portal functionality and how to ensure you are receiving these alerts, please review the following previous provider bulletin items on this topic;
No evidence of current insurance cover on the CareMatch Portal at the levels mentioned below will be treated as a breach of contract until evidence of cover is provided
The levels and types of insurance required by the Framework Agreement for the Provision of Home Support for Children and Young People with Disabilities and Home Support for Adults and the Flexible Contracting Arrangements for the Provision of Care Homes With and Without Nursing Services and Care and Support (Supported Living) are as follows;
- Employers Liability (including volunteers) Insurance - to be as a minimum in accordance with statutory legislation (currently £5m)
- Public Liability Insurance (including loss or damage to service user’s personal effects) - Minimum £10m
- For nursing homes only: Professional Indemnity / Treatment Cover, which must be a minimum of £5m and Negligence which must also be a minimum of £5m
Providers are finding the cost of insurance has risen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and as such it is important you allow enough time for finding an alternative insurance provider, if needed, before your current insurance expires. Please contact your Care Association to see what support and advice they can offer. It is important that you inform you area commissioners if you are having difficulty arranging future cover before the expiry of your current insurance.
Who to contact in the Commissioning Team?
8. Updated presentation on managing COVID-19 outbreaks in Care Homes (information for all Birmingham care homes)
Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust have updated their presentation on managing COVID-19 outbreaks in Care Homes. You can find it below:
Outbreak management in Care Homes | Birmingham City Council
There is a range of other important information and resources on Infection Control available on the pages below:
Infection Prevention and Control | Infection Prevention and Control | Birmingham City Council