What's New Bulletin 62 - 7 October 2021
This is the sixty second 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
- NEW GUIDANCE COVID-19 medical exemptions: proving you are unable to get vaccinated (information for all Care Homes)
- URGENT Care Homes Business Continuity - Deployment of Vaccinated Staff (information for Birmingham Care Homes)
- Letter from the Department of Health and Social Care: Covid-19 booster and flu vaccination programme for social care (information for all providers)
- PRESS RELEASE: Additional funding to help adult social care this winter (information for all providers)
- Cessation of weekly COVID-19 questionnaires for Birmingham care homes and community care providers (information for all providers with CQC registered locations in Birmingham)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE PPE portal: how to order COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) (information for all providers)
- NEW CONSULTATION Extending free PPE to the health and care sector (information for all providers)
IN OTHER NEWS
- Open Book 2021 exercise – extension to deadline (information for all providers contracted with Birmingham City Council)
- Beneficial Activities in Birmingham (BAB) A free event for adults with autism and/or ADHD, their carers, support workers, social workers, and activity providers – 29 October 2021 (information for all Birmingham providers)
- Living good lives webinar: supporting adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic adults 15 November 2021 (information for all providers)
- Message from the Department of Health and Social Care: New sector engagement programme on social care reform (information for all providers)
COVID 19 RELATED INFORMATION
1.NEW GUIDANCE COVID-19 medical exemptions: proving you are unable to get vaccinated (information for all Care Homes)
This guidance covers how to apply for official proof that, for medical reasons, you’re unable to be vaccinated and/or tested for COVID-19 for medical reasons.
The full guidance can be found below:
COVID-19 medical exemptions: proving you are unable to get vaccinated
Please note that all current temporary self-declared medical exemptions will now expire on 24 December 2021. We are advised that the new process for validating medical exemptions - which includes clinical sign-off - will take around 2 – 3 weeks. Please therefore ensure that any staff that have already self-declared or are anticipating doing so before 11 November, start their application via 119 as soon as possible. If you have staff who you believe may not be able to secure clinical-sign off you are also encouraged to start dialogue with them to ensure they are aware of the need to be vaccinated or for appropriate HR processes to be followed before 24 December 2021.
2.URGENT Care Homes Business Continuity - Deployment of Vaccinated Staff (information for Birmingham Care Homes)
We are currently contacting all Birmingham care homes who don’t have 100% of their staff double vaccinated. The purpose of this is to ensure you have robust continuity plans in place before the new Regulations commence in November and also so we can offer support where we can.
We have already delivered a number of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) briefings and also provided a BCP template in case that assists. However, from the Plans and feedback received to date, we want to be really clear about what we are asking.
As you are already required to have a detailed Business Continuity Plan in place, we are not asking for these to be re-written or the format changed. At this point, we do not need to consider your wider continuity risks such as fire, IT failure etc. What we are looking for is written confirmation that you have assessed the impact of the new Regulations on your service, that you have identified robust actions to reduce the risk to the service and that you have identified any further support or actions that need to be taken. There is no set format for this, but we do need homes to have carefully considered these points and have robust plans in place.
To try and simplify this process for you, a table and guidance has been circulated to providers and highlights the information we need and the key questions we are asking that you have carefully considered and documented. If you don't have the table and guidance, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
We strongly encourage you to review your current plans in line with the attached guidance and submit to your Commissioner for review as requested. Please do get in touch with your Commissioner should you require any support with this and we will be happy to help.
Many thanks in advance for your time and cooperation in helping us understand and plan for potential disruption across the care market.
3.Letter from the Department of Health and Social Care: Covid-19 booster and flu vaccination programme for social care (information for all providers)
Claire Armstrong, Director of Adult Social Care and COVID-19 Response has written to adult social care providers and leaders on the Covid-19 booster and flu vaccination programmes.
The COVID-19 vaccine booster is being prioritised for people in the following groups:
- Care home residents
- Health and social care workers
- People aged over 50
- People16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19
- Adult carers
- Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals
Those eligible for the booster will be contacted directly and boosters for care home residents will be delivered through vaccination teams. Staff may also be offered a vaccination through these teams however they can also receive their booster via their GP or a hospital hub. Social care workers are also eligible for a free flu vaccine.
A new communications toolkit and range of marketing materials has been published on the Public Health England campaign resource centre.
This includes: Q&A leaflets, posters, social media graphics and email signatures, have been launched for providers to encourage care colleagues to taken up both vaccines. Printed materials are available to pre-order now, and digital assets will be available later this week.
You can read the full letter below
COVID-19 vaccinations booster campaign letter
4.PRESS RELEASE: Additional funding to help adult social care this winter (information for all providers)
More than £388 million announced to prevent infections and provide testing in the care sector. The Infection Control and Testing Fund has been extended until March 2022. We will share guidance for this fund once it has been published, however access to the fund will continue to be conditional on timely completion of the Capacity Tracker, as per previous funds.
Read the full press release below
Additional funding to help adult social care this winter
5.Cessation of weekly COVID-19 questionnaires for Birmingham care homes and community care providers (information for all providers with CQC registered locations in Birmingham)
As from this week, Birmingham care homes and community care providers will no longer receive a weekly request to complete the BeHeard Covid-19 questionnaire. We will continue to monitor information you are submitting to other organisations, such as the National Capacity Tracker and the Care Quality Commission Covid-19 related deaths, and carry out targeted data collection activities with our markets as needed (e.g. business continuity planning for compulsory vaccination of Care Home staff and visitors).
It is very important that providers continue to update regularly Nationally collected data in relation to Covid-19, in particular the Capacity Tracker. This remains one of the main sources of information for central government in directing the management of the pandemic and as a local authority we also use your information to assist in identifying the support you need. You will also be aware that the Capacity Tracker is the primary source of information on vaccination uptake in social care.
At the start of the Covid-19, we suspended the quarterly Market Intelligence and Health Questionnaires that providers were being asked to complete. Our plans to re-instate these questionnaires will be covered in future bulletin items.
6.UPDATED GUIDANCE PPE portal: how to order COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) (information for all providers)
This guidance explains how 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. Order limits for domiciliary care providers and residential care homes have been updated. ‘Nitrile’ has been removed from gloves for all providers.
The full guidance can be found below:
PPE portal: how to order COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)
7.NEW CONSULTATION Extending free PPE to the health and care sector (information for all providers)
The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking views on whether it should extend the provision of free personal protective equipment (PPE) to the health and care sector after 31 March 2022.
Further information about the consultation and how to take part can be found below:
Extending free PPE to the health and care sector
IN OTHER NEWS……….
8.Open Book 2021 exercise – extension to deadline (information for all providers contracted with Birmingham City Council)
Many thanks to all care homes and community care locations which have submitted Open Book 2021 returns to date. Following receipt a number of requests and to ensure that we maximise the number of returns (and therefore the richness of the data) we have decided to extend the deadline for submissions until Sunday 10 October 2021. Thank you for your participation in the exercise.
9.Beneficial Activities in Birmingham (BAB) A free event for adults with autism and/or ADHD, their carers, support workers, social workers, and activity providers – 29 October 2021 (information for all Birmingham providers)
Join us at Queen Alexandra College, Harborne on 29 October 2021 for the Beneficial Activities in Birmingham (BAB) event. Booking is highly recommended. Morning or afternoon slots are available, with arrival anytime between 10am and 1pm or 1pm and 4pm.
BAB is a free event for adults with autism and/or ADHD, their carers, support workers, social workers and activity providers. You will have the opportunity to meet and network with providers and professionals and find out more about groups and activities available to adults with autism and/or ADHD in Birmingham.
A free programme of fun and beneficial activities will be taking place. Light refreshments will be provided.
Please book to attend using the link to Eventbrite below
Beneficial Activities in Birmingham (BAB) - 29 October 2021 - Booking Form
This event is in support of the work of the Birmingham Autism and ADHD Partnership Board (BAAPB).
10.Living good lives webinar: supporting adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic adults 15 November 2021 (information for all providers)
This free webinar aims to support health and social care practitioners to enable adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic adults to live good lives along the homes not hospitals pathway. Hear from people with lived experience, BASW England, Skills for Care, CQC and NICE at the following webinar:
Living good lives: Effective hospital discharge planning for adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic adults to prevent future admissions
Monday 15 November 12:30pm to 2pm
For social care providers and social workers supporting hospital discharge. To register and for more information, please visit:
11.Message from the Department of Health and Social Care: New sector engagement programme on social care reform (information for all providers)
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have made the task of reforming social care more important than ever. Over the last year, the Government’s vision for reform has been shaped by the insights of sector leaders, care providers, people with lived experience and others.
Following the recent publication of Build Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care, the Government will work with individuals and organisations from across the care sector to co-produce a White Paper on reform to be published later this year. This will set out further detail on the commitments made in that document, including support for the adult social care workforce and unpaid carers. The ASC Update will be providing regular updates, blogs and news to keep you and your care colleagues fully informed.