What's New Bulletin 57 - 2 September 2021
This is the fifty seventh 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
- Letter from Birmingham Health and Social Care Partners, COVID vaccination - important information and resources for care home staff (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
- Birmingham City Council and Health telephone calls regarding vaccine uptake (information for Birmingham care homes)
- REMINDER Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Champion/Lead Study Day – 22 and 23 September 2021 (information for Birmingham Care Homes)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing in adult care homes (information for all care homes)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England (information for all home support providers)
- Capacity Tracker – important reminder on how to record workforce absences correctly (Information for all care homes)
- Changes to the Capacity Tracker – improving how you make updates (Information for all care homes)
IN OTHER NEWS
- Open Book 2021 exercise launch (information for all care providers contracted with Birmingham City Council and/or Birmingham and Solihull CCG)
- Changing Practice in Adult Social Care LGBTQ+ older people course, various dates between 6 and 27 September 2021 (information for Birmingham care homes)
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) latest updates on their learning disability and autism work (information for all providers)
- Webinar on the Care Quality Commission's new monitoring approach – 20 September 2021 (information for all providers)
- Free Government funded care home website and energy efficiency tool (information for small to medium-sized care homes)
- EU Settlement Scheme update: late applications and support available (information for all providers)
COVID 19 RELATED INFORMATION
1. Letter from Birmingham Health and Social Care Partners, COVID vaccination - important information and resources for care home staff (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
Dear colleagues
As you will be very aware, the legal deadline for care home staff to have their COVID vaccinations is fast approaching; staff need to have their first dose by 16 September, in order to meet the deadline of 11 November to be double vaccinated. This week, we have launched a communications campaign to remind staff that time is running out. The campaign will change, as the deadlines get nearer.
In this first phase, the following materials will be used:
Poster: A supply of printed A3 and A4 posters will be delivered to you next week. The poster has been circulated electronically to all care providers and is also available from marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk Please display the posters in prominent staff areas.
Video: the short video below can be used on social media or any other suitable online channels you have. The local NHS and council will be promoting this extensively.
Video about COVID-19 vaccination for care home staff
There are a range of resources and FAQs available on the Birmingham and Solihull vaccination website:
What you need to know – Birmingham & Solihull NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Service
We will also be addressing common concerns around myths, pregnancy and fertility. We will be in touch again soon about this.
We are aware that there are some staff who claim that they are medically exempt from having the COVID vaccination; there are very few individuals who cannot receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Further guidance about medical exemptions is available here (page 22-24). You can also direct individuals to consult their GP and/or hospital specialist if they need further assurance about having their vaccine if they have existing medical conditions.
Please inform staff that it is quick and easy to have a vaccination, with many sites now available across Birmingham and Solihull, with no appointment needed. For the latest information, visit the website below:
Further information will follow, but in the meantime, please let us know if you require anything further to help encourage your staff to have their vaccinations by emailing marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk.
Best wishes, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Care Group, University Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham Community Health Care
2. Birmingham City Council and Health telephone calls regarding vaccine uptake (information for Birmingham care homes)
Over the next week, commissioners will be contacting each care home provider to discuss vaccine take-up. On the calls, you will be asked for information on each staff member who has not had both doses of the Covid Vaccine and the reason for refusal. It would be helpful if the information on staff is prepared in advance. Please also ensure you are regularly updating the vaccination questions in the National Capacity tracker as this data is used by Adult Social Care Staff and Health colleagues to target resources and assess risk.
3. REMINDER Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Champion/Lead Study Day – 22 and 23 September 2021 (information for Birmingham Care Homes)
Birmingham care homes are invited by Birmingham Community Health Care Trust (BCHC) and Birmingham City Council to send their IPC champions/IPC leads to a study day at Birmingham City Football Stadium on either the 22 or 23 September 2021. The aim of the day is to enable IPC champions/leads to identify and support improvement with infection prevention and control practice within their workplace and to build a network of champions to drive improvement/share good practice across the sector..
To book please contact the IPC Care Home Team on 0121 466 6550 (option 5) or email IPCdata@nhs.net
Please see our previous bulletin item for further information about IPC champions and the BCHC dedicated IPC service to care homes;
4. UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing in adult care homes (information for all care homes)
This guidance contains details on how to access test kits and step-by-step guides on how to use PCR and rapid lateral flow test kits for regular and outbreak testing of residents, staff, and visiting professionals. The ‘Care home COVID-19 testing guidance for regular and outbreak testing of staff and residents’ section has been updated to reflect changes to self-isolation guidance that came into effect on 16 August 2021.
The full guidance can be found below;
Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing in adult care homes
5. UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England (information for all home support providers)
This guidance is a resource for those working in domiciliary care providing information on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). This guidance has been updated to remove references to FFP2 and N95.
The full guidance can be found below:
COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England
6. Capacity Tracker – important reminder on how to record workforce absences correctly (Information for all care homes)
Please ensure you are aware of the following when updating the Capacity Tracker;
- Absences recorded should be for sickness only (COVID-19 or other sickness reasons) – not absences for other reasons e.g. maternity leave, not on shift that day, on holiday, as these are not sicknesses/illnesses.
- Those listed as off sick should be included in the figures regardless of whether they are due on shift or not that day.
- Figures entered for workforce are actual headcount – not full-time equivalent numbers.
- Total number employed is all staff employed – not just those who are working that day.
- Definitions for "number absent today – COVID related" and "number absent today – non-COVID related" can be found by hovering over this text in the tracker.
- Definitions for type of workforce can be found by hovering over "registered nurses", "care providing staff" and "non-care providing staff".
- Ensure that no boxes are left blank – this will cause errors when saving the system.
- Number of directly employed staff absent today (COVID related and non-COVID related) should not exceed the figure for total number employed (directly employed staff) e.g. if you have a total of 10 staff, you cannot have 11 staff members absent
Please ensure that your workforce status RAG rating is updated and correct every day – guidance text can be found by hovering over each RAG status:
• Red = workforce level ratios breached, business continuity in place.
• Amber = operating within agreed staffing ratios however significant escalation risk in coming days.
• Green = operating within agreed staffing ratios with minimal risk identified in the coming days.
7. Changes to the Capacity Tracker – improving how you make updates (Information for all care homes)
From the 31 August 2021, changes were made to the Business Continuity and Vacancy Update page used by Care Homes. This will reduce the number of component parts of the system accessed to make updates. The changes will mean that users can navigate simply to all the update pages and locations relating to an account as well as being able to review existing location-specific information i.e., services offered, contacts, etc to ensure that the information held is up to date.
On the Capacity Tracker Main Menu, the Business Continuity & Vacancy Update tile will be renamed Provider Bulk Update Template, to reflect that this is for those providers who wish to use the download template – recommended for those users who regularly update more than 5 locations.
Users who are responsible for updating less than 5 locations should update via the appropriate provider set up/update tile on the Main Menu.
Full details of the changes can be found by logging into the Capacity Tracker and going to the 'What's new' section
For assistance with Capacity Tracker, please contact our Support Team on 0191 691 3729 or alternately you can email necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net
IN OTHER NEWS……………..
8. Open Book 2021 exercise launch (information for all care providers contracted with Birmingham City Council and/or Birmingham and Solihull CCG)
Further to last week’s bulletin item, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham and Solihull CCG are pleased to announce the launch of the Open Book 2021 cost gathering and analysis exercise for Care Homes and CQC Registered Home Support and Supported Living Locations. A letter providing further details and instructions, as well as the care cost templates which we encourage you to complete, have been circulated to all care providers. If you don't have copies, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Completed forms should be submitted to OpenBook2021@birmingham.gov.uk by 3 October 2021.
In addition to the instructions and in-form guidance you can email us at OpenBook2021@birmingham.gov.uk with any questions or clarifications, and we will do our best to support you.
Thank you in advance for your participation.
9. Changing Practice in Adult Social Care LGBTQ+ older people course, various dates between 6 to 27 September 2021 (information for Birmingham care homes)
Birmingham City Council are supporting a course aimed at care homes on Changing Practice in Adult Social Care LGBTQ+ older people. The course is aimed at people working in the older people’s care sector and will consider how older LGBTQ+ people experience care settings. With narrative collected from those with lived experience of care, this course covers topics including LGBTQ+ awareness, monitoring, and barriers to engagement as well as good practice in care settings. It will be facilitated by experienced trainers from Stonewall Housing in partnership with Birmingham LGBT and Birmingham City Council. The training is free, thanks to funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, via Ageing Better in Birmingham.
Please use the following link for the full list of course dates and to book a place on this course;
Changing Practice in Adult Social Care LGBTQ+ older people Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
10.Care Quality Commission (CQC) latest updates on their learning disability and autism work (information for all providers)
In her latest blog, Debbie Ivanova (Deputy Chief Inspector - People with a learning disability and autistic people), updates on how the CQC are working to transform the way they regulate services for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The blog discusses their provider collaboration review about care for people with a learning disability living in the community during the pandemic and next steps.
You can read the blog below
11. Webinar on the Care Quality Commission's new monitoring approach – 20 September 2021 (information for all providers)
Join the CQC webinar to hear how they are monitoring and prioritising inspections at the moment. You'll also be able to ask questions through the live chat. This event is aimed at providers and professionals who work in health and social care, organisations who represent them, and other stakeholders. It will take place on 20 September at 3pm and will be led by Sue Howard, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care.
CQC will discuss our monitoring approach which is a development from the transitional monitoring they did last year. The developments carry on the progress in how they monitor services in three key areas by:
- improving their ability to monitor risk to help CQC be more targeted in their regulatory activity
- bringing information together in one place for inspection teams, presented in a way that supports inspectors with their decision making
- testing elements of how they want to work in the future, including how they provide a more up-to-date view of risk for people who use services.
You can find more information about the CQC’s monitoring approach below:
What to expect from CQC's new monitoring approach
You can register for the webinar below:
12. Free Government funded care home website and energy efficiency tool (information for small to medium-sized care homes)
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) have created a free energy efficiency assessment tool that will help small and medium-sized care home providers improve the energy efficiency of their care homes and save money. They were commissioned by the Department for Business Environment and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to create the tool and website.
The tool lets you input simple information about your building and creates a bespoke list of potential improvements with the associated costs and savings of each measure. You can then use the website information pages to find:
- Ways to fund and procure these improvements
- Trusted suppliers and contractors
- Current energy efficiency standards and regulations
13. EU Settlement Scheme update: late applications and support available (information for all providers)
EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens and their family members who were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 who have not yet applied to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) should check on GOV.UK if they need to apply to obtain UK immigration status to allow them to continue living in the UK.
Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)
The deadline for most people was 30 June 2021, but you can still apply if you have reasonable grounds for missing the deadline. Information on making a late application is available on GOV.UK. There is also information available on GOV.UK for people who have already applied to the EUSS.
Support remains available, with further details on GOV.UK Telephone support is also available through the Home Office Settlement Resolution Centre on 0300 123 7379.