What's New Bulletin 219 - 17 October 2024
This is edition 219 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 Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – October 2024 – DEADLINE 22 October 2024 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
2. Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Sensor Based Falls Prevent and Detection Technologies (SBFPD) (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
3. West Midlands Care Association on Behalf of Birmingham City Council – Funding for Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) – Submissions by 17 November 2024 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
4. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England - Peace of mind for families and care teams (information for all providers)
5. REMINDER Care Quality Commission (CQC) – Care Provider Alliance (CPA) to support review of single assessment framework – Survey Deadline 20 October 2024 (information for all providers)
6. Care Quality Commission (CQC) - Response to Reviews by Dr Penny Dash and Professor Sir Mike Richards (information for all providers)
7. Care Quality Commission (CQC) – Sir Julian Hartley to become CQC's new Chief Executive (information for all providers)
8. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (BSol ICS) - Oliver McGown Mandatory Training Tier 2 – various dates October 2024 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
9. REMINDER - Skills for Care - Midlands regional manager network – Tuesday, 22 October 2024 - 10:00am - 11:30am (information for all providers)
10. Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) - Free online webinar on Constipation for healthcare professionals – 23 October 2024 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm (information for care homes with nursing in Birmingham and Solihull)
1. REMINDER Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – October 2024 – DEADLINE 22 October 2024 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
Please click this link to access the questionnaire:
The deadline for completion is Tuesday 22 October 2024
This questionnaire is issued quarterly. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Completion of the questionnaire is part of the terms of the Care Homes 2023 contract, for contracted providers, but we ask all Birmingham care homes to take part in the process to help us meet our responsibilities to all Birmingham citizens.
Many thanks to staff at the care homes who completed the previous questionnaires. If this did not include your care home, please ensure that you complete the October and subsequent editions.
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.
Further information about our approach and how the data we are asking for will be used has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
2. Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Sensor Based Falls Prevent and Detection Technologies (SBFPD) (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council have been successful in securing funding, for a limited time only, from the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) programme Adult Social Care Digital Transformation Fund (ASC DTF) to support nursing and residential care providers across NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB, with the adoption and implementation of successfully piloted Sensor Based Falls Prevention & Detection Technologies. The funding currently available amounts to 100% of implementation costs, including training, set up of the system and a full year’s licence fee.
has been selected due to their success across several National pilots.
For further information about the funding, call or email The Digital Team, West Midlands Care Association; Tel: 01384 943000 (option 1), Email: enquiries@wmca.digital
3. West Midlands Care Association on Behalf of Birmingham City Council – Funding for Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) – Submissions by 17 November 2024 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
There is still some funding available for CQC registered Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers who are yet to make the move from paper to a digital form of capturing care plans, known as a Digital Social Care Record (DSCR). This three-year funding programme made available via the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) Adult Social Care Digital Transformation Fund (ASC DTF) will come to end on 1 December 2024. We are encouraging providers who would like to claim to submit their online application by the 17 November 2024.
For your funding allocation to be committed, you need to identify and select your preferred DSCR solution from the link below:
and provide a quote. You can then implement the solution later.
Click on this link to submit your DSCR Grant Award Application/
For further information or queries please contact enquiries@wmca.digital
***There will be no further DTF funding for Adult Social Care providers to adopt a DSCR after the above date***
4. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England - Peace of mind for families and care teams (information for all providers)
Studies conducted on behalf of the Digitising Social Care Programme (See link below) found that actively involving people who use care services in care planning is a big priority for managers, staff and families. Families also reported they were keen to access the ‘family portal’ features of Digital Social Care Records (DSCRs) (See link below), allowing them to keep up-to-date on aspects of their loved ones’ lives, including their medical support, daily activities, and more general emotional state.
Digitising Social Care Programme
Digital Social Care Records
DSCRs are software solutions to record a person’s care information. This allows staff and families to share data and reduce time on admin tasks, improving safety and quality of care records and providing person-centred care.
Please see link below for further information:
Peace of mind for families and care teams | Digitising Social Care
5. REMINDER Care Quality Commission (CQC) – Care Provider Alliance (CPA) to support review of single assessment framework – Survey Deadline 20 October 2024 (information for all providers)
The CPA is a coalition of the 10 main national associations that represent independent adult social care providers in England. It advocates for the sector and ensures a co-ordinated response to the major issues that affect it. Members take it in turns to lead the CPA and there is a new Chair each year.
Members of the CPA will focus on giving an operational perspective on the single assessment framework from an external care provider’s viewpoint. The review will explore aspects such as how the new approach works in practice, its effectiveness, and how providers are experiencing the process. It will also give a view on changes providers would like to see.
The first stage of the review will focus on providers’ experiences of the single assessment framework, either in preparing for it or during inspection. Any managers, deputy managers, senior managers, nominated individuals, quality or compliance leads working in a regulated care service are able to respond to the online survey (see link below) by 20 October 2024. Feedback from this survey will inform a second stage, which will look more closely at what people want from CQC for the future.
6. Care Quality Commission (CQC) - Response to Reviews by Dr Penny Dash and Professor Sir Mike Richards (information for all providers)
The CQC have welcomed 2 important reviews that will help to set the future direction for CQC (See links below):
final report of Dr Penny Dash's review
first report of the review by Professor Sir Mike Richards
Visit the CQC’s website to read our full response and Sir Mike's report (See links below:
The report from Dr Penny Dash is available on the link below:
The Department of Health and Social Care have also published the terms of reference (see link below)
published the terms of reference for a further review of the safety of the health and care landscape.
Also, follow the link for a full update on:
Re-building a trusted approach to our regulation - Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk).
7. Care Quality Commission (CQC) – Sir Julian Hartley to become CQC's new Chief Executive (information for all providers)
Sir Julian Hartley will be appointed as the new Chief Executive of CQC. Sir Julian has been Chief Executive of NHS Providers since February 2023 and has previously held the positive of Chief Executive at several organisation, most recently at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Follow the link for further information
Sir Julian Hartley will be appointed as CQC's new Chief Executive - Care Quality Commission
8. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (BSol ICS) - Oliver McGown Mandatory Training Tier 2 – various dates October 2024 (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disabilities and Autism is for all staff in a CQC registered organisation. Staff must complete Part 1 (The e-Learning) followed by Part 2 (as per the requirements of their job role). Part 2 of the training is divided into Tier 1 (one-hour online learning) or Tier 2 (one day’s face to face training)
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System are running Oliver McGown Mandatory Training for Tier 2 with sessions at the venues below. They are running 6-8 sessions a day of face-to-face training and have several empty spaces.
Flash Climbing Centre - Solihull
Kenrick Centre - Birmingham
Perry Tree Centre - Birmingham
Ann Marie Howes Centre - Birmingham
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
For booking and further information visit:
9. REMINDER - Skills for Care - Midlands regional manager network – Tuesday, 22 October 2024 - 10:00am - 11:30am (information for all providers)
If you're looking to take your skills and knowledge to the next level, this regional network is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
This time speakers are:
Shirley Way – Skills for Care, Midlands Head of Area will provide an overview of the adult social care workforce strategy and the next steps regionally
Jane Collinson – Programme Manager, NHSE Digital Policy Unit | NHS England who will provide an update on the Digital Transformation Fund and digital social care records before the deadline for applications closes
for this Zoom webinar
Browse other scheduled on Skills for Care's website below
If you are not yet connected to your local registered managers network and WhatsApp group contact lucy.mcdonald@skillsforcare.org.uk to join – membership is free and a great source of peer support and information.
10. Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) - Free online webinar on Constipation for healthcare professionals – 23 October 2024 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm (information for care homes with nursing in Birmingham and Solihull)
This free online webinar forms part of a series of interactive webinars, commissioned by Birmingham & Solihull ICB and provided by Birmingham Hospice in collaboration with Marie Curie and St Giles Hospice. Sessions are delivered by local palliative care experts.
Date: 23 October 2024
Time: 1.00 pm – 2.00pm
Format: Online via ZOOM
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk