COVID-19 What's New Bulletin 38 - 22 April 2021
This is the thirty eighth weekly 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.
COVID RELATED INFORMATION
- UPDATED Care Home Visiting - Position Statement from Birmingham City Council (Information for all care homes in Birmingham)
- Changes to national information about ordering PPE (Information for all care providers)
- Changes to national information about health and wellbeing of the adult social care workforce (Information for all care providers)
IN OTHER NEWS
- REMINDER - Getting and maintaining an NHS mail secure email account (Information for all care homes and community care locations in Birmingham)
- REMINDER CareMatch Portal new functionality regarding expired insurance documents (Information for all users of CareMatch Portal)
COVID RELATED INFORMATION
1.UPDATED Care Home Visiting - Position Statement from Birmingham City Council (Information for all care homes in Birmingham)
Birmingham City Council issued a revised Care Home Visiting Position Statement on 15 April 2021
Care Home Visiting Position Statement
2.Changes to national information about ordering PPE (Information for all care providers)
Page summary:
Eligible health and social care providers can order PPE through the portal to meet the increased need that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Change made:
Added ‘nitrile’ to gloves for all providers, and ‘vinyl gloves’ to domiciliary care providers and residential care homes. Removed ‘boxes of small hand hygiene’ from domiciliary care providers.
PPE portal: how to order COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)
3.Changes to national information about health and wellbeing of the adult social care workforce (Information for all care providers)
Page summary:
Advice for those working in adult social care on managing your mental health and how employers can take care of the wellbeing of their staff during the coronavirus outbreak.
Change made:
Updated to reflect that people are no longer being advised to shield, that the CARE Workforce app is now closed, and the changes made as part of ‘Step 2’ of the government’s ‘COVID-19 response – spring 2021’ roadmap. Also added a link to the Skills for Care Workforce Wellbeing Resource Finder.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): health and wellbeing of the adult social care workforce
IN OTHER NEWS
4.REMINDER - Getting and maintaining an NHS mail secure email account (Information for all care homes and community care locations in Birmingham)
The West Midlands Care Association have been working with Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) since October 2019 to support care providers set up an NHS Mail account. The majority of BSOL care homes and some non-residential care providers now have an NHS Mail account and are finding it hugely beneficial. Having an NHS Mail account allows the safe transfer of confidential personal data and information between care providers and staff in the NHS and Local Authorities. It also gives access to Microsoft Teams which is an online conferencing facility to enable ‘virtual consultations and meetings’. The NHS expects all care homes to have secure email facilities by June 2021 and all other CQC registered social care services to have them by October 2021. Details of how to get your account and how to maintain it are available on the West Midlands Care Association website
Get a secure NHS mail account through the WMCA website
5.REMINDER CareMatch Portal new functionality regarding expired insurance documents (Information for all users of CareMatch Portal)
Changes were made to the CareMatch Portal in early December 2020 to make efficiencies in the process for ensuring we have up to date insurance information from providers, as required within the Home Support Framework Contracts and the Open Contracting arrangements for Care Homes and Supported Living.
Please note that the CareMatch Portal user guide has been updated to provide instruction on selecting the correct Document Type and entering the policy expiry date when uploading new insurance documents to ensure you receive alerts when documents are about to expire (section 8.8).
For further information about this new functionality, please refer to the item 3 in bulletin 18
Full details are in the revised CareMatch Portal User Guide