What's New Bulletin 270 - 16 October 2025
This is edition 270 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 Birmingham City Council - Home Support and Supported Living Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – DEADLINE 24 October 2025 (Information for All Birmingham and Contracted Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 Providers)
2. FINAL REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – DEADLINE 21October 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)
3. Birmingham City Council - Business Continuity Arrangements (Information for all Care Providers)
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Keeping CareMatch Portal User Accounts Up to Date (Information for Contracted Providers)
5. REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Contractual Requirement to Use Secure Email (Information for all Providers Holding Contracts with Birmingham City Council)
6. Community Care Collaborative Update - Connect Newsletter for October 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
7. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub October 2025 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers)
8. REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - IPC Care Home Champions Annual Expo 24 October 2025 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
9. Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board - Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum: Self-neglect and Trauma – 18 November 2025 (Information for all Care Providers working in Birmingham)
10. REMINDER Skills for Care - The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) Workshops November 2025 (Information for all Providers)
1. REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Home Support and Supported Living Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – DEADLINE 24 October 2025 (Information for all Contracted Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 Providers)
If your service holds either or both of the Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 contracts, you are requested to complete and submit this questionnaire by clicking this link:
Home Support and Supported Living MIQ – October 2025
The deadline for completion is Friday 24 October 2025
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 Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 contracts
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.
2. FINAL REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – DEADLINE 21 October 2025 (Information for All Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)
Please click this link to access the questionnaire:
The deadline for completion is Tuesday 21 October 2025
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 this 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
3. Birmingham City Council - Business Continuity Arrangements (Information for all Care Providers)
Local authorities have specific duties in relation to business continuity management (BCM). This BCM duty applies to all services that the local authority carries out (including services that are provided by a third party). This means that the local authority needs to ensure all services have appropriate business continuity arrangements in place and will be seeking assurances that this is the case. The requirement for Business Continuity Plans is written into the Councils’ care contracts and plans must be reviewed by care providers annually or after any event that questions or challenges the continuity of their service. Any incident, whether large or small, accident or deliberate, can cause major disruption to your business. Examples of disruptions that can occur during winter pressures include; flooding, heavy snow, or pandemics.
The following links outline key business continuity arrangements that need to be in place and example templates, which can be tweaked to suit the needs of the service being delivered;
Business continuity | Is your business ready? | Birmingham City Council
Business continuity plan for care providers | Birmingham City Council
International Recruitment is a key concern when looking at Business Continuity Management. WM-ADASS and West Midlands Employers have launched a guide, published by Lester Aldridge Solicitors, which is available on the West Midlands Social Care International Recruitment Hub.
This guide includes:
- An overview of your obligations under UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) regulations. Guidance on meeting Right to Work requirements and preparing for UKVI compliance audits.
You can download a copy of the guide here:
http://irwestmids.co.uk/compliance-guide/
Birmingham City Council has Displaced Worker Support arrangements in place and details can be found here:
Displaced worker support | Birmingham City Council
Should contracted Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered care providers holding Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship Licences want to be added (or removed) from the Recruitment Opportunities section (this section lists care providers who have indicated to Birmingham City Council that they will consider employing displaced workers if they have employment vacancies) please email Market Intelligence at marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Keeping CareMatch Portal User Accounts Up to Date (Information for Contracted Providers)
Commissioning request providers to check that their CareMatch Portal Users are up to date. Section 8.7 of the User Guide for providers using Care Match Portal | Birmingham City Council explains how to do this (see link below).
User Guide for providers using Care Match Portal | Birmingham City Council
If Users have left your organisation and no longer need access to the system, please contact marketintellingence@birmingham.gov.uk. This message would need to come from either a registered manager, owner, or staff that have the permission to Manage Users.
If you are not sure after reviewing the guidance how to check which Users are assigned to your organisation please contact marketintellingence@birmingham.gov.uk who can assist with this.
5. REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Contractual Requirement to Use Secure Email (Information for all Providers Holding Contracts with Birmingham City Council)
All care providers holding contracts with Birmingham City Council are required to use NHS-approved secure email accounts for all correspondence which includes citizens’ personal data. NHS mail accounts are available free of charge to all CQC registered providers. As an alternative,
providers can apply to NHS to have their mail systems approved as secure.
Use of any other email account is not compliant with Birmingham City Council contracts.
More information on NHS mail accounts for care providers is available here:
If you already have an NHS mail account but are experiencing difficulties with it, you can use the NHS ail Contact Form (See link below)
This doesn’t in itself resolve the matter, but by using the drop-down menus, it identifies the issue you are experiencing, and provides guidance. You then receive an email with the required information to send to the NHS mail helpdesk for resolution. More information about how to use the Contact Form can be found here:
NAS contact form – NHSmail Support
You can also phone the NHS mail helpdesk on 0333 200 1133.
Please note that if you don’t use your NHS mail account for 90 days it stops working.
6. Community Care Collaborative Update - Connect Newsletter for October 2025 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
The latest Newsletter | Website, the newsletter for the Community Care Collaborative, is now available. Please take a moment to read the newsletter.
7. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub October 2025 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers)
The Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub Website is for those working in a primary or social care role in the Solihull / Birmingham area. The information is for students looking for support with career development or a visitor wanting to find out more.
Please use this link for training, further information and booking
Social Care – BSol Training hub
All training events are listed in the calendar section. You can also contact the training hub by email bsol.traininghub@nhs.net.
The next sessions are:
- 17 October 2025 BSOL Bladder & Bowel Health TENA training session (October 2025) - 10:00 am - 11:00 am
- 20 October 2025 International Recruitment: Exploitation in International Recruitment: “Why Now?” - 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
- 21 October 2025 The DSPT and Data Protection in General for Home Care - 10:00 am - 11:00 am
- 21 October 2025 Personal Devices, WhatsApp & Data Sharing: Are You Putting People at Risk? - 10:00 am - 11:00 am
- 22 October 2025 Preparing for change: exploring the Mental Health Act reforms 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
- 22 October 2025 Webinar 2 – Mastering Moisture and Edges: Advanced Strategies in Wound Healing with TIME (hosted by SoTV) - 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
- 23 October 2025 Positive Behaviour Support - 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
- 23 October 2025 Medicine Management at End of Life for Prescribers - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- 23 October 2025 The DSPT and Data Protection in General for Care Homes - 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
8 REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - IPC Care Home Champions Annual Expo 24 October 2025 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
IPC Updates:
- Friday, 24 October 2025 marks our third IPC Annual Expo, this is a walk-in event at Moseley Hall Hospital. IPC would like to invite their IPC Champions and Care Home friends and colleagues to attend between 10.00am – 3.00pm.
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
If you have any comments/queries regarding the above, require infection control advice/support, training, etc please contact the team via bchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net or 0121 466 6550
Thank you all for your continued engagement and support.
9. Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board - Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum: Self-neglect and Trauma – 18 November 2025 (Information for all Care Providers working in Birmingham)
Booking is now available for the next Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum.
- Date: Tuesday 18 November 2025 Location: West Midlands Fire Service HQ, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham B7 4HW Time: 13:00 – 16:30 Cost: Free
The Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board are holding a frontline Practitioner Forum about Self Neglect and trauma, and the obstacles front line Practitioners may face in Birmingham when working with adults with care and support needs, with a particular focus on prevention and safeguarding.
Places are limited and we ask that you only book if you are committed to attending this face-to-face session. You can also:
If you do book and then not able to attend, please cancel the booking on Eventbrite.
The BSAB reserve the right to prioritise and cancel bookings.
10. REMINDER Skills for Care - The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) Workshops November 2025 (Information for all Providers)
There are a series of upcoming workshops focused on the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS). These sessions are designed to support adult social care providers in understanding the benefits of ASC-WDS and how it can be used to strengthen workforce planning and access funding.
The ASC-WDS is a free online data collection service that captures information about the adult social care workforce in England. The data is used by key decision-makers, including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), to plan, fund, and monitor the sector. By creating an ASC-WDS account, providers can access funding opportunities and contribute to shaping the future of adult social care.
The sessions will cover:
- What ASC-WDS is and how the data is used by key stakeholders Benefits of creating an account Live demo What you’ll need to create an account Q&A
Workshop dates:
19 November 2025 – 1:00pm - 2:00pm
27 November 2025 - 10:00am -11:00am
Please click on the link to book your place
ASC-WDS Workshops - Please complete the form below
Please use this link to see the responses to the most recent Department of Health and Social Care survey