What's New Bulletin 152 - 6 July 2023
This is edition 152 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.
1. REMINDER Yellow Heat-Health Alert (information for all providers)
2. REMINDER Restart of revised Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – Care Homes July 2023 – DEADLINE 20 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
3. Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and partnership with social care (information for all providers)
4. COVID-19 treatments outside hospital – update for care providers (information for all care providers)
5. Volunteers Responders programme expands to support adult social care providers – events July and September 2023 (information for all providers)
6. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Next steps to test the guiding principles for delegated healthcare activity – expressions of interest by 7 July 2023 (information for all care providers)
7. Palliative and End of Life Care Education Program first cohort 10 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
8. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Care England - State of Care adult social care survey – Deadline 12 July 2023 (information for all providers)
9. People for Public Services - Uniting Health and Social Care services 18 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham providers)
10. Capacity Tracker - Covid vaccination questions changes (information for all providers)
11. NHS artificial intelligence (AI) Lab - One-stop-shop for AI and digital regulations for health and social care launched (information for all providers)
12. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Digital social care records to be rolled out across care sector (information for all providers)
13. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) match funding for providers to transfer to Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) Event 21 July 2023 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
1. REMINDER Yellow Heat-Health Alert (information for all providers)
A Yellow Met Office Heat-health Alert has been issued for the West Midlands and is in effect between 07/07/2023 at 12:00 and 09/07/2023 at 09:00.
This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Please share the following information and attached guidance with your staff, service users, communities and partner networks to help ensure that citizens – particularly those who are most vulnerable - are adequately prepared.
Additional useful links to guidance include:
Translated “Beat the Heat” Posters
guidance on keeping your baby safe in the sun
advice for older adults staying safe in hot weather
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
2. REMINDER Restart of revised Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – Care Homes July 2023 – DEADLINE 20 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
Please find the link to the July monthly MIQ here;
The deadline for completion will be two weeks initially, 20 July 2023. As the process becomes established, we will send out the questionnaire during the first week of the month with a week’s deadline.
This initially request for the questionnaire return is via our bulletin distribution list with a link to BeHeard (the Council’s consultation system). The questionnaire asks for dedicated email addresses to be used going forward.
The purpose of the questionnaire is to collect information to assist our market shaping and development role, the production of our Market Position Statements, fulfil our Care Act duties around ensuring a quality and sustainable market, to help us direct resources, identify areas of risk, and monitor progress towards our strategic aims. It has been co-produced with health colleagues to reduce duplication in data collection, and has been streamlined so that we are only collecting information that is not available to us from elsewhere e.g. the Capacity Tracker.
We will only be collecting data that we will use and at the frequency we need it. Therefore, instead of quarterly questionnaires, there will be a shorter monthly questionnaires, a slightly longer quarterly questionnaire with some additional questions and a slightly longer still annual questionnaire.
This is the first questionnaire since restarting the MIQ process. We are starting with a monthly questionnaire in this instance while we re-establish the process, but ordinarily July would be a quarterly return and slightly longer.
The return of the questionnaire is part of the terms of our current contracts for contracted providers, but we ask all Birmingham providers to take part in the process to help us meet our responsibilities to all Birmingham citizens.
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
3. Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and partnership with social care (information for all providers)
Yesterday marked 75 years since the NHS was founded (see link below). With its founding, the social care sector, as a collaboration of care providers, services and professionals, also came into being.
75 years since the NHS was founded.
Social care colleagues have been as much a part of the NHS success story as their clinical counterparts - bridging the gap between clinical and community settings and providing personalised, empathetic care. In many ways, social and clinical services are co-dependent, each one needing the support of the other.
In two special blog posts (see below) to mark the anniversary, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Deborah Sturdy and Chief Social Worker for Adults, Lyn Romeo, applaud every care and NHS colleague for their continued dedication. The challenges the health and care sector faces have never been greater, but continued collaboration can only benefit those most in need of care.
4. COVID-19 treatments outside hospital – update for care providers (information for all care providers)
The way people access treatment for COVID-19 changed on 27 June 2023. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will now be at the centre of patient’s treatment pathways; arranging local services to assess people and providing treatment where necessary. This treatment could be provided at a local COVID-19 treatment service, by the person’s GP, NHS 111 or by their own hospital specialist.
Eligible care provider organisations can still order lateral flow tests on the dedicated ordering portal to identify any outbreaks and to test the most vulnerable. Follow the link below:
5. Volunteers Responders programme expands to support adult social care providers – events July and September 2023 (information for all providers)
The programme volunteer responders (see link below) has recently extended to support adult social care providers. Join one of a series of webinars, in July and September, hosted by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Royal Voluntary Service, the charity delivering the programme, to learn more.
Hear about the programme's scope, what volunteer support is available to the adult social care sector and how to make a referral.
Please use the following link to register to attend a webinar;
NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Stakeholder Webinar Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
6. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Next steps to test the guiding principles for delegated healthcare activity – expressions of interest by 7 July 2023 (information for all care providers)
The guiding principles for delegated healthcare activity were launched last month. Skills for Care and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are entering a 6 month testing and feedback period to test the guiding principles in practice. They're looking for up to 6 local initiatives that are using the guiding principles in their work to learn from.
Detailed information about the work, how to apply, expectations, benefits to those involved and timelines are included in the form using the links below. The deadline for expressing your interest in being involved is Friday 7 July 2023.
guiding principles and supporting resources
For further information on delegation of healthcare activities in care settings: new guiding principles for safe, dignified, person-centred care, please see item 3 of our previous bulletin;
What's New Bulletin 147 - 1 June 2023 - Care services providers' bulletin (birmingham.gov.uk)
7. Palliative and End of Life Care Education Program first cohort 10 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
The Care Homes Education Team has published the first cohort dates for our Palliative and End of Life Care – Education Program for Care Homes.
The course is run over a few weeks and all five days must be completed in order to receive your certificate.
The first cohort will be starting on 10 July 2023 and will be based at Moseley Hall Hospital.There will be 20 places available so book your place as soon as possible. Please note that further cohorts will be ran over the coming months and new dates will be circulated via this bulletin and the Care Homes App.
Use the following link to register your place:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/654774727837
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
8. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Care England - State of Care adult social care survey – Deadline 12 July 2023 (information for all providers)
To help inform this year's State of Care report the CQC and Care England want to understand more about the challenges you're facing now, and how they've changed over the last 12 months.
The information gathered from this survey will be used alongside insight from previous surveys to support this work. The CQC have worked in partnership with Care England to shape these questions and look forward to hearing your views.
This survey is voluntary, and all responses are anonymous. The insight gathered through this survey will not be used in any regulatory judgements. The survey closes on Wednesday 12 July 2023.
Take the survey here;
ASC Provider survey June/July 2023 (typeform.com)
9. People for Public Services - Uniting Health and Social Care services 18 July 2023 (information for all Birmingham providers)
Birmingham City Council People for Public Services would like to invite you to its next meeting on 18 July 2023 11.00am-12.30pm. This is an online meeting using Microsoft Teams.
Integrated care systems (ICS) are partnerships that bring together the NHS, Birmingham City Council and others – including the voluntary and community sector - to take collective responsibility for planning services, improving health and reducing inequalities. More details about Birmingham’s ICS can be found here:
Birmingham and Solihull ICS (birminghamsolihullics.org.uk)
Local health and social care partnerships have existed in one form or another since 2016, but for most of this time they have been voluntary arrangements. The government have asked for these partnerships to be made formal with legal powers and responsibilities.
At this meeting we would like to share how this is currently being achieved. We are keen to hear how we can include residents of Birmingham in this partnership and to capture your views on what good partnership would look like to you.
To book a place, please click;
People for Public Services 18th July 11am to 12:30pm (microsoft.com)
You will be emailed a link 24 hours before the online event goes live.
If you are unable to book a place, please do not hesitate to contact us via our email getinvolved@birmingham.gov.uk
10. Capacity Tracker - Covid vaccination questions changes (information for all providers)
Thank you for your continued efforts to submit COVID-19 vaccination data in Capacity Tracker. This continues to be vital to monitor uptake and inform decision-making.
The primary course and current COVID-19 booster vaccination programmes ended on 30 June 2023. The associated vaccination questions will not be mandatory from July 15 2023 – following the end of the next DHSC Data Provision window. See links below:
In accordance with our aim to give at least 3 months’ notice before new data becomes mandatory, please be aware that we are in the process of finalising this autumn’s data collection but information relating to COVID-19 vaccinations will be collected as it has in previous years.
11. NHS artificial intelligence (AI) Lab - One-stop-shop for AI and digital regulations for health and social care launched (information for all providers)
A new online advice service to help the NHS and wider care system adopt and make use of new digital and AI technologies launched this month.
The service provides guidance for NHS and social care adopters and digital health innovators. See link below:
AI and Digital Regulations Service
The service offers:
- a website providing centralised, curated and up-to-date regulatory content for both developers and adopters of AI and data-driven technologies; and
- access to specialist support for both developers and adopters from the service partners.
The service is a multi-agency collaboration between the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is funded by the NHS AI Lab.
The site provides comprehensive guidance at each stage of the adoption pathway all in one place. The service can also respond to individual enquiries, making connections with relevant services or system partners.
Director of Technology, Anthony Snape, said, “The use of AI in health and care settings is increasing and developing rapidly. This exciting service is an example of how CQC is instrumental in driving technology-based change that ultimately brings improvements in how we ensure that people experience safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care.”
12. Care Quality Commission (CQC) Digital social care records to be rolled out across care sector (information for all providers)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is encouraging care providers to shift away from paper-based care planning to digital social care record systems (DSCRs), in a bid to reduce time spent on time-consuming administrative tasks. The introduction of DSCRs brings a more personalised approach to care, with information uploaded in real time, allowing for patient records to be up-to-date at all times. The information is also shared safely and securely on a platform that can be accessed whenever a care professional requests it – ensuring that those who need it, receive the right care sooner.
Watch this video to find out more about DSCRs;
Digital Social Care Records - YouTube
13. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) match funding for providers to transfer to Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) Event 21 July 2023 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
BSOL ICB and Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB are offering:
- 50% match funding providers to transfer to Digital Social Care Records (DSCR)
- DSCR- Known as electronic care planning, a DSCR enables good quality records that underpin safe, effective, compassionate, and high-quality care. They communicate the right information clearly, to the right people, when they need it. They are an essential part of achieving good outcomes for people in your care which is reflected in the CQC’s including of Digital in their latest strategy.
Hear from Richmond Court Care Home in Dudley about the benefits of moving to DSCR here
Who's eligible? If you’re a CQC registered care provider and you’ve neither made the move from a paper-based system of keeping your care records and care plans nor taken advantage of available funding launched 1 April 2022, then 50% match funding during financial year 2023/24 is available.
You can learn more the ICB grant funding at the upcoming marketplace event 21 July 2023. You can book your place using the link below;
Digitising Social Care - Events (wmca.care)
For further help and advice check out our dedicated DSPT Support Webpages below or call our helpline: 01384 943000.