What's New Bulletin 293 - 9 April 2026
This is edition 293 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. Birmingham City Council, Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – April 2026 – DEADLINE 24 April 2026 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
2. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Home Support and Supported Living Providers Online Forum (Information for Home Support and Supported Living Providers)
3. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Supporting Care Home Residents to Vote on 7 May 2026 (information for Birmingham care homes)
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Ensuring Your Current Insurance Documents are Uploaded to the CareMatch Portal (Information for all Birmingham City Council Contracted Providers)
5. Department of Health and Social Care, Capacity Tracker Monthly Bulletin - April 2026 (information for all providers)
6. Skills for Care, We Are Social Care Nursing, March 2026 Newsletter (Information for Care Homes with Nursing)
7. NHS England - All Our Health – Ten Public Health Tips eLearning Module (Information for all Providers)
8. REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for April 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)
9. Birmingham City Council, Modern Slavery Lunch & Learn Series, April – May 2026 dates (information for all Birmingham and contracted providers)
10. REMINDER Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) Practitioner Forum - Cultural Barriers in Health and Social Care 21 April 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
11. Royal Collage of Nursing (RCN) Adult Social Care Listening Event 22 April 2026 (Information for all Care Homes with Nursing)
12. REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - WHO World Hygiene Day Event – 5 May 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
1. Birmingham City Council, Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – April 2026 – DEADLINE 24 April 2026 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)
Please click this link to access the questionnaire:
The deadline for completion is Friday 24 April 2026
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 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.
2. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Home Support and Supported Living Providers Online Forum (Information for Home Support and Supported Living Providers)
You are invited to join our next online forum for Home Support and Supported Living providers. This session will be an opportunity to share updates, raise any issues, and continue working together to strengthen support for people across the city.
When: Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Where: Microsoft Teams
Join the meeting on the day using the link below.
Home Support and Supported Living Providers Online Forum 13 May 2026
Meeting ID: 384 039 178 653 8
Passcode: ru7xC6vj
Agenda:
- Service and commissioning updates
- How commissioners evaluate risk and assess quality
- Space for providers to raise questions and suggest items for the next forum
Your insight and participation are very much valued, and we hope you can join us.
3. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Supporting Care Home Residents to Vote on 7 May 2026 (information for Birmingham care homes)
Birmingham City Council are requesting the support of care home providers to enable service users to vote and take part in the upcoming election on 7 May 2026. The Electoral Commission have developed guidance to help care staff support the people they care for to vote;
IER - Supporting Applicants to Register.
There are also resources available for voting in England in a number of different languages and aimed at people with different needs; including people who are blind and partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing and people with learning disabilities and/or autism;
Resources to support specific groups | Electoral Commission
Important dates in the upcoming election are;
- Tuesday 24 March 2026 - poll cards will be sent to inform your residents where their polling station is
- Friday 10 April 2026 - the final list of candidates who are standing and will appear on the ballot papers will be published
- Monday 20 April 2026 - the deadline for residents to register to vote in this election
- Tuesday 21 April 2026 5:00pm - the deadline for residents to apply for a postal vote.
You can find more information about the different ways service users can vote on our
The Council’s citizen engagement team have offered to run an online webinar for Care Home managers on supporting residents to vote. To express an interest, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk by Friday 27 March. If there is sufficient interest, details of the webinar will be shared via this bulletin.
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council, Ensuring Your Current Insurance Documents are Uploaded to the CareMatch Portal (Information for all Birmingham City Council Contracted Providers)
It is an important part of your contractual obligations to Birmingham City Council, and a legal requirement, to ensure you have valid insurance at all times. It is important that when you renew your insurance documents you remember to upload a copy to the CareMatch Portal following the instructions in Section 8.8 of the Care Match Portal User Guide:
If you are experiencing technical issues uploading the documents, please emailmarket.intelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Reminder alerts are sent from CareMatch Portal to inform you when your insurance documents were coming up to their expiry date and when they had expired to assist you to remain compliant with your contractual obligations around insurance. To ensure you are receiving these alerts, check your email alerts are switched on (see section 4.5 of the User Guide for how you can check and change user settings).
No evidence of current insurance cover on the CareMatch Portal at the levels required by your contract will be treated as a breach of contract until evidence of cover is provided.
Providers are finding the cost of insurance has risen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and as such it is important you allow enough time for finding an alternative insurance provider, if needed, before your current insurance expires. Contact your Care Association to see what support and advice they can offer. It is important that you inform you area commissioners if you are having difficulty arranging future cover before the expiry of your current insurance.
Who to contact in the Commissioning Team?
5. Department of Health and Social Care, Capacity Tracker Monthly Bulletin - April 2026 (information for all providers)
Please find the monthly bulletin for April 2026 at the following link;
20260408 - monthly bulletin - april final.pdf
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 ornecsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net(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 (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(Open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm
6. Skills for Care, We Are Social Care Nursing, March 2026 Newsletter (Information for Care Homes with Nursing)
This edition reviews progress in expanding learning opportunities, new support for Registered Managers supervising nursing students, and recent Gold Commendations recognising excellence in delivering the national nursing strategy. It also reflects on the launch of the Global Majority Nursing Network and its focus on leadership and inclusion across social care. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
7. NHS England - All Our Health – Ten Public Health Tips eLearning Module (Information for all Providers)
A free eLearning module is available to help adult social care teams build confidence in prevention, wellbeing, and mental health—fully aligned with the CQC framework. It’s great for CPD, induction, and supporting a resilient workforce focused on healthy ageing. Take a look here:
8. REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for April 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
9. Birmingham City Council, Modern Slavery Lunch & Learn Series, April – May 2026 dates (information for all Birmingham and contracted providers)
We’re excited to launch a new series of 30‑minute Lunch & Learn webinars, developed in partnership with the West Midlands Anti‑Slavery Network (WMASN). These sessions dive into the specific indicators of different types of exploitation, the support available, and the referral pathways you need to know when responding to concerns.
These sessions are aimed at people in a frontline role, commissioning, housing, social care, community safety, or working with partner agencies.
Why attend?
• Quickly build confidence in spotting exploitation
• Strengthen your understanding of safeguarding duties
• Hear real‑world insights from WMASN experts
• Know exactly where to refer and how to get support
• Boost your professional knowledge over lunch
Upcoming Sessions:
Understanding Labour Exploitation - 15 April 2026
Criminal and Cuckooing Exploitation – 22 April 2026
Understanding Sexual Exploitation – 29 April 2026
Understanding Domestic Servitude – 5 May 2026
Understanding Organ Harvesting – 14 May 2026
10. REMINDER Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) Practitioner Forum - Cultural Barriers in Health and Social Care 21 April 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
Booking is now available for our next Safeguarding Adults Practitioner Forum.
- Date: Tuesday 21 April 2026
- Location: West Midlands Fire Service HQ, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham B7 4HW
- Time: 12:00 – 15:30
- Cost: Free
The Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board are holding a frontline Practitioner Forum about Cultural Barriers in Health and Social Care 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.
Places are limited and we ask that you only book if you are committed to attending. You can book your ticket here:
BSAB Practitioner Forum: Cultural Barriers in Health and Social Care
If you book and are no longer able to attend, please cancel the booking on Eventbrite.
The BSAB reserve the right to prioritise and cancel bookings.
11. Royal Collage of Nursing (RCN) Adult Social Care Listening Event 22 April 2026 (Information for all Care Homes with Nursing)
The RCN is hosting online listening event to understand key issues affecting the adult social care nursing workforce, including pay, career progression, working conditions, and retention.
The session will be held on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 at 6:00pm via MS Teams, lasting approximately 1–1.5 hours. Insights gathered will support evidence‑based policy on recruitment, retention, workforce planning and integration. Please contact Sarah Seeley, Lead Nurse, IHSC if you would like to attend; sarah.seeley@rcn.org.uk.
12. REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - WHO World Hygiene Day Event – 5 May 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
Tuesday, 5 May 2026 is WHO World Hygiene Day, IPC are looking for volunteers from care homes to take part in this year’s event. Please contact bchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net to register your interest.
If you have comments/queries or require infection control advice/support, training, etc please contact the team viabchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net or 0121 466 6550