What's New Bulletin 232 - 23 January 2025
This is edition 232 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) – January 2025 – DEADLINE 28 January 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)
2. REMINDER Met Office - Yellow Warning for Wind (Storm Éowyn) (Information for all Providers)
3. Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) - Apprenticeships Standards Survey - Closing Date 26 January 2025 (Information for all Providers)
4. Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) - Resilience-based Clinical Supervision Programme / Social Care Nurse Development Scholarship 2025(Information for all Providers with Social Care Nurses)
5. Skills for Care - Prevention in Social Care (Information for all Providers)
6. Skills for Care - New eLearning module: Ten public health tips for social care workers (Information for all Providers)
7. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Reminder to ensure safe visits to care settings in the winter months (Information for all Care Home Providers)
8. REMINDER Healthwatch Birmingham - Help to Improve Home Care Services in Birmingham Questionnaire – 31 January 2025 Deadline (Information for all Home Support Providers in Birmingham)
9. REMINDER Capacity Tracker Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Provider Training Dates February and March 2025: Using Capacity Tracker (Information for all Providers)
10. Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – Updates and Training January to March 2025 (Information for Care Homes and IPC Care Home Champions)
11. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) – Skills for Care Updates and Training January, February and March 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
1. REMINDER Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – January 2025 – DEADLINE 28 January 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)
Please click this link to access the questionnaire:
The deadline for completion is Tuesday, 28 January 2025
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 this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk.
Please note:
The PDF version of the on-line questionnaire is provided to assist completion of the on-line version. It should not be used to submit your information to us as we can’t process data submitted on the PDF.
2. REMINDER Met Office - Yellow Warning for Wind (Storm Éowyn) (Information for all Providers)
Please be advised that the Met Office have today issued a weather warning affecting the West Midlands area, please review your business continuity plans in relation to the below.
Yellow Wind Warning
Valid from 00:00 on Friday 24 January 2025, until 23:59 on Friday 24 January 2025.
Strong winds may cause some disruption on Friday.
What to expect
- Power cuts are likely to occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage
- Injuries and danger to life could occur from flying debris
- Road, rail, air and ferry services are likely to be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible. Some roads and bridges may close.
- Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen
What Should I Do?
- Prepare to protect your property and people from injury. Check for loose items outside your home and plan how you could secure them. Items include; bins, garden furniture, trampolines, tents, sheds, and fences.
- Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.
- People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.
- Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly. When a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.
You can sign up to the Met Office email alert service here;
Met Office email alert service
3. Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) - Apprenticeships Standards Survey - Closing Date 26 January 2025 (Information for all Providers)
The IfATE Adult Social Care Trailblazer Group has reviewed the Level 2 Adult Care Worker and Level 3 Lead Adult Care Worker apprenticeship standards. The IfATE is gathering stakeholder feedback on the draft standards (and the draft assessment plan for the Level 2 standard) through a public survey. Your feedback will help ensure that any apprenticeships that are developed meet the training needs of relevant occupations, and that apprenticeships in adult social care are viable, high quality, and widely supported.
The opening of the January 2025 Survey is 13 January 2025 and the closing date is 26 January 2025. For further information, please use the link below.
Apprenticeship surveys / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
4. Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) - Resilience-based Clinical Supervision Programme / Social Care Nurse Development Scholarship 2025(Information for all Providers with Social Care Nurses)
FoNS are delighted to announce a new scholarship open to registered social care nurses in England who have completed the FoNS NHS England supported Resilience-based Clinical Supervision Programme for Social care.
What does it include?
•Attendance at a 5-day FoNS residential programme, which focuses on facilitating the development of person-centred cultures. The scholarship covers the cost of programme registration, accommodation, food and reasonable travel expenses
•12 months bespoke mentorship from FoNS
•The option of FoNS support to publish, present or publicise your work through academic publication, conferences or blogging
•An invitation to become part of the FoNS Alumni
Download the application form and read more below. Closing date Friday 14 February 2025.
Social Care Scholarship pages of the FoNS website.
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
5. Skills for Care - Prevention in Social Care (Information for all Providers)
Skills for Care have created a new webpage for prevention in social care. Prevention should be embedded within the everyday delivery of high-quality adult social care. It is not a standalone task or activity. It includes monitoring and tracking the physical and mental health of people accessing care and support, supporting and advising them with diet, nutrition and exercise.
New tools will be added soon including a 'Checklist for medicines management training' to ensure your training meets recommended standards, a 'Medicines competency assessment guide and record' to help assess and document competency, and a 'Quality assurance guide' and 'Checklist of medicines training processes' to audit and align your training and competency processes with recommended standards.
6. Skills for Care - New eLearning module: Ten public health tips for social care workers (Information for all Providers)
A new, free learning module tailored specifically for people who work in adult social care has an underlying theme of prevention and is designed to build on the knowledge you already have. It offers practical guidance on how your practice relates to public health approaches and how to further integrate these approaches into your day-to-day work as a nurse.
Key topics include preventing illness, promoting wellbeing and mental health, and supporting healthy ageing. Completing the module will enhance the quality of care for those you support and deepen your understanding of public health.
Ten public health tips elearning module
7. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Reminder to ensure safe visits to care settings in the winter months (Information for all Care Home Providers)
As temperatures drop, there is an increased risk of some infectious diseases spreading, so we want to remind care settings to ensure that visiting continues in line with CQC Regulations (See link below)
While visits from family and friends provide essential social interaction, it is also important to ensure it is done safely.
Read the guidance below for safely planning and protecting visiting during outbreaks of infectious illness in adult social care
Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Guidance
Supporting safer visiting in care homes during infectious illness outbreaks - GOV.UK
8. REMINDER Healthwatch Birmingham - Help to Improve Home Care Services in Birmingham Questionnaire – 31 January 2025 Deadline (Information for all Home Support Providers in Birmingham)
Healthwatch Birmingham is seeking to understand what life is like for people who rely on domiciliary services in Birmingham. Therefore, they want to hear from citizens about their experience of the care and support they receive via a questionnaire. This questionnaire should be completed by service users and/or their family member/carer. Please support your service users to be able to complete the questionnaire by the closing date of 31 January 2025.
If you have any questions, please ring 0800 652 5278/0121 636 0990 and ask for Chipiliro Kalebe-Nyamongo or Ghazanfar Khan or email us on chipilirok@healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk or ghazanfark@healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
9. REMINDER Capacity Tracker Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Provider Training Dates February and March 2025: Using Capacity Tracker (Information for all Providers)
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
For support with the Capacity Tracker, please see details below:
- For system support and guidance - please contact NECS Capacity Tracker Support Centre - 0191 691 3729 or necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net (We are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, excluding public holidays)
- Changing registration, closing, change of ownership – please contact the CQC - T: 03000 616161, E: enquiries@cqc.org.uk, CQC Provider Portal (They are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding public holidays)
If you receive an enforcement notice – please contact the NHS Business Services Authority Enforcement Team (NHSBSA) – T: 0300 330 2088, E: enforcement@nhsbsa.nhs.uk (They are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm
10. Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – Updates and Training January to March 2025 (Information for Care Homes and IPC Care Home Champions)
IPC would like to express their gratitude to those who were able to join them at the last virtual IPC training session on Norovirus.
To view the recording of the Norovirus training session and material discussed please click the following link;
Virtual Training Session - Norovirus
Please use the link below for further information re Norovirus.
17.01.2025 - Norovirus Training - Google Drive
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
The IPC Champions Training Day is Friday 31 January 2025 9.00am – 5.00pm at Blossomfield College.
booking is required to attend this event.
The next month’s virtual training sessions on Respiratory Infections will take place on Friday 14 February at 2.00pm – 2.30pm.
please add this to your diaries as appropriate.
The date for the next IPC Champions Forum is Friday 21 March, 11.00am – 12.30pm
please add this to your diaries as appropriate.
For further information, please contact bchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net
11. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) – Skills for Care Updates and Training January, February and March 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk