What's New Bulletin 284 - 05 February 2026
This is edition 284 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 - CareMatch Portal Key Messages – Keeping User Accounts Up to Date (Information for Contracted Providers)
2 REMINDER Birmingham City Council – Birmingham Connect to Support (Information for all Providers Operating in Birmingham)
3 NHS England Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes with Nursing)
4 Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Extension for The Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccination Programme (Information for all Care Home Providers)
5 SURVEY Health Innovation Network (HIN) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) - Technology Deployments Survey – DEADLINE 18 February 2026 (Information for all Providers)
6 Care Quality Commission (CQC) Update for Adult Social Care Providers (Information for all Providers)
7 Foundation of Nursing Studies (FONS) - Resilience‑Based Clinical Supervision (RBCS) – Manager & Staff Update (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes with Nursing)
8 REMINDER Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) - Access to the Care Home App (Information for Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country Care Homes)
9 REMINDER Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board BSAB - Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum 10 February 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
10. REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for February 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
11. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub February 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers)
12. Skills for Care ASC-WDS Workshops – February and March 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
1 REMINDER Birmingham City Council - CareMatch Portal Key Messages – Keeping 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 (see link below) explains how to do this 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.
User Guide for providers using Care Match Portal | Birmingham City Council
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.
2 REMINDER Birmingham City Council – Birmingham Connect to Support (Information for all Providers Operating in Birmingham)
For any provider wishing to promote their services or any of their activities, please be aware that we are unable to include these in our Bulletin. You will be able to share your information using Birmingham Connect to Support though. You can do this by following the link below and clicking on "Products and Services" at the topright, and then "Add a Listing" on the following page. This will take you through to a page where you can sign up to be able to add products and services.
Please use this link to access Connect to Support
CtS Home | Birmingham Connect to Support
3 NHS England Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes with Nursing)
Please note that the NHS England Patient Safety Incident Response Framework will soon be implemented for social care. For further information, please visit the NHS England website and look for the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework section
NHS England » Patient Safety Incident Response Framework
There is also training available here;
NHS Patient Safety Syllabus training - elearning for healthcare
4 Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Extension for The Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccination Programme (Information for all Care Home Providers)
On 2 February 2026 the government accepted the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to expand the older adult RSV vaccination programme to all those aged 80 years and over and to include all residents of care homes for older adults from 01 April 2026 NHS England and UKHSA have published a letter (see below) outlining the upcoming changes
For any operational queries, contact your NHS England Regional Public Health Commissioning Team For clinical queries or queries about supporting programme resources, email immunisation@ukhsa.gov.uk
Any other related queries please contact: england.vaccination@nhs.net
5 SURVEY Health Innovation Network (HIN) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) - Technology Deployments Survey – DEADLINE 18 February 2026 (Information for all Providers)
The SyNAPSE project, via the HIN and the NIHR, is building an evidence base of past technology initiatives in older adult social care. Providers are asked to submit details of any tech projects they have led. If your organisation has led technology initiatives, whether or not the HIN was involved, please share details via the survey.
Evaluation or learning reports and case studies should be emailed to: jessica.ligreci@mft.nhs.uk
Deadline to respond: Wednesday 18 February 2026
6 Care Quality Commission (CQC) Update for Adult Social Care Providers (Information for all Providers)
Please use the link below for updates for providers and professionals working in adult social care.
CQC update for adult social care providers
7 Foundation of Nursing Studies (FONS) - Resilience‑Based Clinical Supervision (RBCS) – Manager & Staff Update ((Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes with Nursing)
Resilience‑Based Clinical Supervision programme is supporting your nurses in practice. Further programme places are fully funded and available for additional registered nurses.
Manager Form (one submission can cover multiple staff):
https://www.fons.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/RBCS-Manager-Form-August-2024.docx
Staff Registration Form (PIN required):
https://forms.office.com/e/f5jg6Rky1k
A programme brochure is also available on request. Please feel free to nominate your nurses for this online, participatory programme.
If you require any further information, please email rbcs.socialcare@fons.org
8 REMINDER Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) - Access to the Care Home App (Information for Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country Care Homes)
Care home staff can now access the NHS ICB Black Country care home app. This replaces the BSOL care home app. 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 FREED stands for Frailty, Recognition, End of Life & Escalation of deterioration and includes a range of tools to assist staff with these issues
9 REMINDER Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board BSAB - Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum 10 February 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
Booking is now available for the next BSAB Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum.
- Date: Tuesday 10 February 2026
- Location: West Midlands Fire Service HQ, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham B7 4HW
- Time: 12:00 pm – 3:30pm
- Cost: Free
The Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board are holding a frontline Practitioner Forum about Multi-disciplinary Meeting & Risk Escalation (see below) - SAR Adam and 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.
Multi-disciplinary Meeting & Risk Escalation
Places are limited and the BSAB are asking that you only book if you are committed to attending this face-to-face session
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 Updates for February 2026 (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
11. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub February 2026 (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:
10 February 2026 Midlands Regional Conference – Save the Date! 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
10 February 2026 (Dementia) Where Worlds Collide – Understanding Distress Behaviours 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
18 February 2026 Tier 3 Free Education Offer – Pressure Ulcer Prevention
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
19 February 2026 Dysphagia Safety 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
19 February 2026 Continuing Health Care Fast Track Pathway Training (February 2026) 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
19 February 2026 Mental Health Awareness 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
12. Skills for Care ASC-WDS Workshops – February and March 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
Currently, Birmingham has one of the lowest uptake rates nationally for the:
Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
This is a free service commissioned and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Skills for Care are holding workshops for providers to create an ASC-WDS account and access funding.
The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is a free online data collection service that covers the adult social care workforce in England. Data from ASC-WDS is used by key decision makers and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) when planning, funding and monitoring the sector
The next sessions are:
Friday, 6 February 2026 – 10:00am -11:00am
Tuesday, 17 February 2026 – 11:00am -12:00pm
Wednesday, 4 March 2026 – 10:00am -11:00am
Friday, 27 March 2026 – 10:00am -11:00am
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk or attiya.kausar@skillsforcare.org.uk for more information