What's New Bulletin 119 - 10 November 2022
This is edition 119 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.
- Autumn COVID-19 booster and flu campaign: TV ads and resources update (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Building Vaccine Confidence for Higher risk populations - Free webinar programme up to January 2023 (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills (information for all providers)
- ACTION NEEDED Introduction of fines for failure to update the mandated questions on the National Capacity Tracker by 14 November 2022 (information for all providers)
- West Midlands Care Home Safety Network Event 14 December 2022, 2:00 – 3:30pm Online Event (information for West Midlands Care Homes)
- Made with Care returns to highlight career opportunities (information for all providers)
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) Webinars about the changes in the way they are working (information for all providers)
1. Autumn COVID-19 booster and flu campaign: TV ads and resources update (information for all providers)
A country-wide marketing campaign, urging millions of eligible people to get their flu and COVID-19 booster vaccines to top up their immunity, launched on 24 October. Adverts are airing across television, radio and social media, stressing the importance of getting both vaccines to increase protection this winter.
There will also be targeted communications for people with long-term health conditions, pregnant women and those from ethnic minority communities, with a particular focus on those with low vaccine confidence. To learn more, and promote the benefits of vaccination to care colleagues and service users, visit the Campaign Resource Centre for Q&A leaflets, posters, social media content and stickers, all free to download and share.
Watch the TV advert below:
Press Pack_Winter Vaccinations Campaign 2022 - Google Drive
2. REMINDER Building Vaccine Confidence for Higher risk populations - Free webinar programme up to January 2023 (information for all providers)
Concept and Objectives
The primary objective of the Autumn booster programme this year is to increase protection against severe COVID-19 disease for those at higher risk. In addition there is an added need to address the inequalities in uptake of flu vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy amongst some eligible populations can present a risk to population health and more often negatively impact some of our poorest communities and/or risk groups. Our conversations are powerful, therefore the provision of skills training that uses the principles of Making Every Contact Count (MECC) and Motivation Interviewing (MI) is an important skill that can be utilised to combat disinformation and myths whilst providing the necessary reassurance and confidence in what is a safe and effective vaccine.
The skills training covers
- How can we work together to build vaccine confidence, what we know and how this links to health inequality
- Core skills and processes (OARS, Evoke-Provide-Evoke, Decisional Balance, and the 3As)
- Skills practice – Building confidence in the vaccine
- Resources that staff can use to respond to questions and concerns
The session will be interactive and include modelled conversations that showcase the core skills and processes being used. The application of this work can be far-reaching. Although this is focused on Flu Vaccinations, these skills can be utilised for childhood immunisations, Covid vaccine, cancer screening and other health-promoting activities. This provision has been funded by Health Education England Y&H in partnership with the NHS Public Health Programmes Team Y&H. Each workshop can caterer for 30 people and lasts for 1.5 hours, dates available from the 12 September 2022 – 10 January 2023. To book a place, please use the link below;
Y&H Webinar: Building Vaccine and Screening Confidence Training Programme (yhphnetwork.co.uk)
3. REMINDER Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills (information for all providers)
The Government have launched 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.
The government announcement can be found below:
Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills for businesses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The full guidance can be found below:
Please note: the relief is only currently available until next March 2023 and only applies to the wholesale element of energy prices up to a certain level; beyond which care homes have to pay the full new KwPH rates upon renewal of your respective energy tariff arrangement.
4. ACTION NEEDED Introduction of fines for failure to update the mandated questions on the National Capacity Tracker by 14 November 2022 (information for all providers)
The deadline for the next mandated data submission of the National Capacity Tracker is approaching on the 14 November 2022. Up until this point, there have not been any fines for non-compliance, but that will change from this month. For further information, a Provider Data Provisions FAQs from the Department of Health and Social Care has been circulated to providers. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
What you need to do
Make sure you complete your updates on the National Capacity Tracker by day 14 of each month.
However, we are asking all our providers to please complete the National Capacity Tracker every time information changes. This is key to producing the most up to date overall picture of protection and needs across the sector and to enable the Department of Health and Social Care, working together with system partners in the NHS and in Local Authorities, to better manage the challenges and target additional support as needed. Thank you to all providers that are already regularly updating the National Capacity Tracker.
How much are the fines?
The level of the fines will be the same as a provider’s CQC registration fee, for example;
- a care home with 31-35 service users could be looking at a fine of £5,023
- a larger care home with 56-60 service users could be looking at a fine of £8,792
- a home care provider with 20 clients could be looking at a fine of £1,325
- a larger home care provider with 40 clients could be looking at a fine of £2,411
Who issues the fines?
The National Capacity Tracker team is administering and enforces all aspects of the fines on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. Local authorities are not involved in any aspect of this process. Please do everything in your power to make sure you do not receive a fine, as it could be significant.
You may also want to ensure that more than one person in your organisation can update the National Capacity Tracker.
Help and support
If you require any assistance with refreshing or updating your information, please just call the Support Centre on 0191 691 3729 (Mon-Fri 8 am-5 pm) or send an email to necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net. A Provider Education Pack has been circulated to providers. This contains useful information and tips. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Capacity Tracker refresher sessions are also available which cover mandatory data completion. Click your chosen date and time below to join the session
Capacity Tracker refresher session 11 November 2022 at 11:00
Capacity Tracker refresher session 6 December 2022 at 14:00
Capacity Tracker refresher session 13 December 2022 at 14:00
5. West Midlands Care Home Safety Network Event 14 December 2022, 2:00 – 3:30pm Online Event (information for West Midlands Care Homes)
The Care Home Safety Network Event will be an opportunity to collaborate, share and learn with other care home managers and staff. Events are free to attend, all we ask is for you to bring your ideas and enthusiasm to share good practice and use the events as an opportunity to network with other homes working on similar improvement ideas.
This series of network events is being organised by the West Midlands Academic Health Science network (WMAHSN), inviting care homes from all over the West Midlands to join us to share developments and celebrate excellence in care homes across the region.
This upcoming event will be a chance to provide you with updates from the previous meetings, as well as an opportunity to share new learnings on exciting new roles and training resources.
Please contact claudia.li@wmahsn.org for further information about this series of events.
6. Made with Care returns to highlight career opportunities (information for all providers)
The Made with Care campaign has returned to highlight the range of opportunities to build careers in care and help others live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Campaign advertising is appearing to millions across 'video on demand' platforms, including ITV Hub, Sky Go and All 4. Radio and digital channels, including Spotify, Facebook and Instagram, will also direct job seekers to the dedicated careers website.
Are you a care provider? These free, easy-to-use campaign assets will save you time when advertising job opportunities locally. They feature imagery and messaging from the national adverts, but you can add your own logo and details too.
Made with Care campaign assets
Visit the Made with Care campaign below:
Work in Adult Social Care: Explore roles and find a job in your local area
7. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Webinars about the changes in the way they are working (information for all providers)
The CQC are developing a new approach that will enable them to regulate in a smarter way, adapting and responding to risk, uncertainty and demand. The new approach will also enable them to understand the quality of care in a local area or healthcare system to improve it and keep people safe.
In their upcoming webinar series, the CQC will introduce two areas where they are changing the way they work to support the new approach.
Changes to operational teams
This one-hour webinar will be an opportunity for providers and professionals who work in healthcare services, organisations who represent them and other stakeholders, to hear about changes to the operational teams and what it means for them.
The webinar will be led by Tyson Hepple, Executive Director of Operations and will take place on Thursday 24 November 11am – 12pm.
Register on Eventbrite below. Registration will close at 9am on Thursday 24 November. We will not be able to accept new registrations after this time.
CQC - changes to our operational teams
CQC regulatory leadership
This one-hour webinar will be an opportunity for providers and professionals who work in healthcare services, organisations who represent them and other stakeholders, to hear about the new regulatory leadership team and what it means for them. There will be an introduction to the new regulatory leadership team and the work they’ll be doing to support more effective regulation and drive improvement across health and social care.
CQC new regulatory leadership team
The webinar will be led by Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Sean O’Kelly, Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and will take place on Monday 5 December, 4 -5pm.
Register on Eventbrite below. Registration will close at 1pm on Monday 5 December. We will not be able to accept new registrations after this time.
The webinars will also be recorded and shared on the CQC YouTube channel