1. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) new provider portal will be available for everyone soon (information for all providers)
2. REMINDER Urgent Community Response Team (UCR): Support available for Care Homes’ urgent care needs (information for all Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
3. All Care Homes in Birmingham can now access virtual training by downloading BSol Healthzone Care Home App (information for all Birmingham care homes)
4. REMINDER CONSULTATION Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices ion on our guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices DEADLINE 20 February 2024 (information for all care homes)
5. REMINDER Kent Surrey Sussex Homecare Research Community of Experience - The role of homecare and other services in supporting adults' food and drink care needs 21 February 2024 (information for all home support providers)
6. REMINDER Hall Green Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) Younger Adults Showcase 22 February 2024 (information for providers in Hall Green)
7. West Midlands Care Association (WMCA) First Monthly Digital Surgery 6 March 2024 (information for all West Midlands providers)
8. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care Network 21 March 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

1. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) new provider portal will be available for everyone soon (information for all providers)

Between now and March 2024 the CQC are making changes to the way providers interact with them. They are introducing a range of new and improved digital services to give providers a faster, easier and streamlined way to share information with the CQC, including a new provider portal.The new portal will offer a better experience when submitting statutory notifications and completing some registration actions.

The CQC have started inviting users of the existing portal to join the new portal and will invite all existing users by the end of February 2024. If you've received an invite to join the new portal, sign up now without delay. From the start of March 2024 any provider can register on the new portal and set up their account.

Here's what to do to get ready for these changes:

Make sure all the contact details we hold for your organisation are correct (you'll need to sign up to the new portal using an email address we have on record)

Contact details

Watch the introduction to our new provider portal

Introduction to our new provider portal

As soon as you receive an invite, sign up to our new portal

If you don't receive an invite to the new portal, sign up as soon as you can from the start of March 2024

Find out more about the new provider portal below;

CQC's Mark Sutton introduces the new provider portal - YouTube

2.  REMINDER Urgent Community Response Team (UCR): Support available for Care Homes’ urgent care needs (information for all Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

Care Homes in Birmingham and Solihull are advised to contact the UCR in the first instance for receiving urgent care. The team can provide a rapid response service within two hours of your call. This referral service offers an alternative to calling an ambulance and helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions or readmissions. This service has highly skilled and dedicated clinicians who can deliver a rapid response to the urgent care needs of your residents or refer to the ambulance service if emergency hospital care is needed.

For further information, please review the following video and attachment:

Urgent Community Response service for referrers across Birmingham and Solihull

3. All Care Homes in Birmingham can now access virtual training by downloading BSol Healthzone Care Home App (information for all Birmingham care homes)

All Care Homes in Birmingham can now access virtual training by downloading BSol Healthzone Care Home App. Instructions on how to do this have been circulated to providers. If you don't have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

All training is listed within the title named ‘Training’. The following courses are currently being offered virtually:

• IPC
• Falls
• Pressure Ulcer Classification
• Restore2
• Skin Tears
• Dementia Awareness
• Verification of Death

4. REMINDER CONSULTATION Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices ion on our guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices DEADLINE 20 February 2024 (information for all care homes)

The CQC are consulting on their proposed guidance to help providers and other stakeholders understand and meet the new fundamental standard on visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals, and hospices and their roles and responsibilities under it. The guidance also sets out what people using health and social care services and their families, friends or advocates can expect.

Consulting on proposed guidance

New fundamental standard

This follows the government’s consultation during summer 2023 which found that most people supported the proposal to introduce a fundamental standard on visiting and being accompanied on

This consultation is limited to the CQC guidance about the new fundamental standard. It does not cover the scope and content of the visiting legislation itself, which was subject to a separate consultation by the government last year.

Given the timescales the government has set out for the regulation to come into force on 6 April 2024, the deadline for responses to the CQC consultation is midday on Tuesday 20 February 2024.

The CQC have published their draft guidance on our website and invite members of the public and providers, their representatives, and other stakeholders to give their feedback through the online form or easy read version.

Draft guidance

Online form

Easy read version

5. REMINDER Kent Surrey Sussex Homecare Research Community of Experience - The role of homecare and other services in supporting adults' food and drink care needs 21 February 2024 (information for all home support providers)

This online lunchtime event was aimed at updating providers on the findings from the above NIHR SSCR-funded project; Wednesday 21 February, 12noon to 1.30pm.

NIHR SSCR-funded project

Alongside support from healthcare and family or friends, home care services offer an important way of supporting older people to stay well and healthy, helping them to access the food and drink they want, when they want and how they want. This is not only important in reducing risks of malnutrition and dehydration, but also to help people live well at home and improve quality of life. This study was a first step in understanding what is already known about how homecare supports older people with food and drink, and give a clearer idea of what needs to be done in terms of research to build the evidence base, and how adult social care policy and practice can support older adults with food and drink in later life.

There was a brief presentations by the research team at the University of Kent, University of Surrey and Brighton and Sussex Medical School, as well as an opportunity for Q&A and discussion of the findings/recommendations.

For further information about this event and the research, please contact my colleague Dr Lavinia Bertini on l.bertini@bsms.ac.uk.

6. REMINDER Hall Green Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) Younger Adults Showcase 22 February 2024 (information for providers in Hall Green)

Join the Hall Green NNS for a showcase celebrating the work of community organisations supporting younger adults in Hall Green constituency.

This event is at The MAC, Cannon Hill Park, on Thursday 22 February 2024, 9:30 am – 1:00 pm. You can use the following link to book this event;

Hall Green NNS Younger Adults Showcase Ticket Booking.

7. West Midlands Care Association (WMCA) First Monthly Digital Surgery 6 March 2024 (information for all West Midlands providers)

The WMCA is working with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across the West Midlands to support the roll out of Digital Social Care Records and Sensor Based Falls and Prevention and Detection technology.

If you have any questions about the funding and how you access it, or you need help with the DSPT, feel free to join our monthly session every Wednesday at 10:00am. This will be an open session to support care providers in their ‘digital journey’. You can come along if you have any questions around DSCR i.e, how to procure a supplier, who are the assured suppliers, how to submit expression of interest or complete an application etc.. There will also be a short introduction explaining about the programme and the funding offer.

The first session with be Wednesday 6 March 2024, 10:00am – 11.00am on Microsoft Teams. For more information please visit the WMCA website

WMCA website

If you have any enquiries, please contact enquiries@wmca.digital

8. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care Network 21 March 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care would like to invite registered nurses to the next virtual network meeting for Thursday 21 March 2024 14.00pm to 16.30pm.

The meeting agenda will include relevant clinical nursing issues;

• Update on Dementia and End of Life
• Stop and Watch
• How to set up organisational learning meetings
• Update from the Social Care Advisory Board

There will be an update from BSOL Integrated Care Board, Skills for Care and West Midlands Care Association on support/resources for nurses.

To find out more about the meeting, and to book your place, follow this link:

Nurses and Clinical Leads Network (wmca.care)