What's New Bulletin 69 - 25 November 2021
This is the sixty ninth 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 GUIDANCE Restricting workforce movement between care homes and other care settings (information for all Care Homes)
- NEXT STEPS Making vaccination a condition of deployment in the health and wider social care sector (information for Birmingham Homes Support and Support Living providers and providers operating in Birmingham)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE Supported living services during coronavirus (COVID-19) (information for all supported living providers)
- UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: infection prevention and control (IPC) (information for all providers)
- Infection Control and Testing Fund: round 3 (October 2021 to March 2022) and Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund (October 2021 to March 2022) (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
- Capacity Tracker – Bulk upload template changes (information for all providers)
IN OTHER NEWS
- Level 2 Cold Weather Alert – severe cold weather between 6pm on Friday 26 November and 3pm on Monday 29 November (information for all providers).
- Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Birmingham Business Support Event - Thursday 9 December 8:30am - 10am (information for all Birmingham providers)
- Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (BSoL CCG) - Second West Midlands Care Home Safety Network Event Wednesday 8 December 2021 (Information for all West Midlands care homes)
- REMINDER Do you want to receive email alerts when new referrals are distributed through the CareMatch Portal? – how to check your email alerts are switched on (information for all Birmingham contracted providers)
- Help improve CQC services for providers (information for all providers)
- REMINDER Association of Adult Social Care Services (ADASS)/University of Birmingham and Warwick Strength-based practice research – how you can take part – Extended Deadline 31 January 2022 (information for all providers)
COVID 19 RELATED INFORMATION
1. UPDATED GUIDANCE Restricting workforce movement between care homes and other care settings (information for all Care Homes)
This guidance is for care home providers on limiting staff movement between settings to help reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. The guidance has been revised to describe circumstances in which staff movement may be cautiously permitted to plan for capacity concerns and to ensure continuity of care. The full guidance can be found below:
Restricting workforce movement between care homes and other care settings
2. NEXT STEPS Making vaccination a condition of deployment in the health and wider social care sector (information for Birmingham Homes Support and Support Living providers and providers operating in Birmingham)
The Government has published its response to the consultation on “Making vaccination a condition of deployment in the health and wider social care sector”. Subject to parliamentary passage, new regulations will come into force on 1 April 2022 requiring providers of all CQC-regulated activities (except shared lives) to only deploy individuals who have received a full course of COVID-19 vaccination in line with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance to roles where they interact with patients and service users.
These regulations will require workers who have direct, face to face contact with service users to provide evidence that they have been vaccinated, subject to limited exceptions below. This will include front-line workers, as well as non-clinical workers not directly involved in patient care but who nevertheless may have direct, face to-face contact with patients, such as receptionists, ward clerks, porters and cleaners. They will also apply where a regulated activity is delivered through agency workers, volunteers or trainees, or contracted to another provider.
Some individuals will be exempt from the regulations:
- those under the age of 18
- those who are clinically exempt from COVID-19 vaccination
- those who have taken part or are currently taking part in a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine
- those who do not have direct, face to face contact with a service user, for example, those providing care remotely, such as through triage or telephone consultations or managerial staff working in sites apart from patient areas
- those providing care as part of a shared lives agreement
There are specific temporary arrangements proposed for those vaccinated outside of the UK. For new starters there are also specific temporary arrangements in place for those that have been vaccinated abroad or who have only had one dose of an authorised vaccination. Although these draft Regulations have yet to be passed into law, it is important you are familiar with the proposals and are start planning early.
Next steps:
Please ensure you are regularly updating the Capacity Tracker with information about staff numbers and vaccination status. This will be the basis of conversations your Area Commissioners will be having with you over the coming months to support you with preparing for these changes to the Regulations. The Capacity Tracker can be accessed below. If you need help or guidance in updating this information please contact the Capacity Tracker Support Team on 0191 691 3729 or email necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net.
Further detail of support Commissioners will offer with your Business Continuity Planning and the assurances we will need for all CQC registered care providers (regardless of contractual status with the Council) will be detailed in future bulletins.
The full guidance can be found below:
3. UPDATED GUIDANCE Supported living services during coronavirus (COVID-19) (information for all supported living providers)
This guidance is for providers of supported living settings. The following section has been updated throughout in line with the latest clinical advice from UKHSA; ‘COVID:19: guidance for supported living’. Please refer to the summary change note in the guidance for a full breakdown of all updates.You can find the full guidance below:
Supported living services during coronavirus (COVID-19)
4. UPDATED GUIDANCE COVID-19: infection prevention and control (IPC) (information for all providers)
This guidance relates to infection prevention and control for COVID-19. Sustained community transmission is occurring across the UK. The guidance has been broadened to include seasonal respiratory infections; the 3 COVID-19 specific pathways have been removed; a section on the hierarchy of controls added, and physical distancing advice updated. The full guidance can be found below:
COVID-19: infection prevention and control (IPC)
5. Infection Control and Testing Fund: round 3 (October 2021 to March 2022) and Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund (October 2021 to March 2022) (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
We are working through the Council’s governance procedures as quickly as possible to enable us to distribute the above funding to care homes and CQC registered community care providers. We will issue further communication in due course via the weekly bulletin detailing grant conditions, allocations, payments and reporting requirements. In the meantime, please update the Capacity Tracker every 7 days minimum and ensure you have submitted spend returns for Infection Control and Testing Extension (July 2021 to September 2021) grants. Failure to do so will lead to the Council withholding grant payments.
below. If you need help or guidance in updating this information please contact the Capacity Tracker Support Team on 0191 691 3729 or emailnecsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net.
6. Capacity Tracker – Bulk upload template changes (information for all providers)
There have been some changes to the bulk update process and providers now need to do separate updates for the 4 sections below:
- Updating vacancies and daily business continuity (includes covid vaccination, flu and PPE updates)
- ICF weekly/monthly questions
- Home Care Survey
- Updating contact information
Users of the bulk upload function should select the appropriate template to update their data. If you need help or guidance in updating this information please contact the Capacity Tracker Support Team on 0191 691 3729 or email necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net.
IN OTHER NEWS……………
7. Level 2 Cold Weather Alert – severe cold weather between 6pm on Friday 26 November and 3pm on Monday 29 November (information for all providers).
A Level 2 Met Office Cold Weather Alert has been issued for the West Midlands. There is a 60% probability of severe cold weather between 6pm on Friday 26 November and 3pm on Monday 29 November. The comments from the Met Office are as follows;
The comments from the Met Office are as follows - 'Outbreaks of rain, sleet and hill snow Friday night. Very strong winds Friday into Saturday, making it feel very cold. Dry and less windy Sunday, but remaining cold.'
This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Guidance collated by the Health Protection Response Team has been circulated to all providers. Please share this with your staff, service users, communities and partner networks to help ensure that citizens - particularly those who are most vulnerable - are adequately prepared. If you don't have copies of the guidance, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
In addition, please be aware that you can sign up to the Met Office email alert service below:
Met Office email alert service
8. Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Birmingham Business Support Event - Thursday 9 December 8:30am - 10am (information for all Birmingham providers)
If you’re a business based in Birmingham that has plans to grow and you want to hear about both current and future opportunities available to support your company, then join us on Thursday 9 December 2021. The webinar event is delivered in partnership with The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Growth Hub and Birmingham City Council and will provide you with an opportunity to find out what’s on offer.
To find out more details and to register, visit:
Birmingham Business Support events
9. Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (BSoL CCG) - Second West Midlands Care Home Safety Network Event Wednesday 8 December 2021 (Information for all West Midlands care homes)
This series of network events is being organised by the West Midlands Academic Health Science network (WMAHSN), inviting care homes from all over the West Midlands to join us to share developments and celebrate excellence in care homes across the region. Following feedback from the first event, the content of the December meeting to cover Falls Prevention and Management. The next West Midlands Care Home Safety Network event is on Wednesday 8 December 2-4pm.
“The Care Home Safety Network event will be an opportunity to collaborate, share and learn with other care home managers and staff. Events are free to attend, all we ask is for you to bring your ideas and enthusiasm to share good practice and use the events as an opportunity to network with other homes working on similar improvement ideas.” Please follow the link below to find out more and register;
Registrants will receive a diary invitation with the link to access the session approximately 3 working days before the session begins. If you have not received your link by this time, please contact sarah.wootton@wmahsn.org
10. REMINDER Do you want to receive email alerts when new referrals are distributed through the CareMatch Portal? – how to check your email alerts are switched on (information for all Birmingham contracted providers)
It has been a while since many of you started using the CareMatch Portal. You may not remember that there is an option to switch on and off email alerts so that you are notified when a new referral is distributed through the CareMatch Portal. Instructions on how you can check if your notifications are switched on can be found on pages 22 and 23 of the Provider User Guide. Other useful information on how you can manage users and their access to the CareMatch Portal within your organisation can be found on page 41 of the Provider User Guide. Please contact marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk if you need further guidance on how to change your settings.
The full user guide can be found below:
CareMatch Portal Provider User Guide
11. Help improve CQC services for providers (information for all providers)
The CQC are currently looking at improving the ways providers register with them and send them notifications. The CQC would like your help as someone working for a health or social care provider. This might be a quick conversation, or a more in depth interview about you and your work in relation to CQC. Please sign up below if you are willing for the CQC to contact you. Research sessions are never more than an hour. The CQC are currently running all our research online or over the phone.
12. REMINDER Association of Adult Social Care Services (ADASS)/University of Birmingham and Warwick Strength-based practice research – how you can take part – Extended Deadline 31 January 2022 (information for all providers)
To support local authorities in the West Midlands embed strength-based practice within adult social care, ADASS has asked the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick to research our different approaches to its implementation. This will help our region learn from the experiences of the different local authorities regarding the embedding of strength-based practice. The research team will also provide insights for individual local authorities regarding their local progress and what could help us move towards more strength-based practice in our area.
As an independent provider and/or voluntary organisation involved in adult social care in our local authority area, we would therefore be grateful if you could complete the survey below from the University. This will ask about your understanding of strength-based practice, how the local authority have sought to implement it locally, and opportunities to do this better in the future. The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete – data will be held by the University of Birmingham and will be reported anonymously.
The survey can be found below:
Strengths-based practice in Adult Social Care (Voluntary Sector and Independent Providers)
We would be grateful in you could complete the survey by Monday 31 January 2022.
If you would like any further information, please contact the lead researcher r.s.miller@bham.ac.uk or the lead researcher for the survey Sharanya Mahesh (s.n.mahesh@bham.ac.uk). The findings from the research will be available in Spring 2022 and will be publicly accessible and promoted through WM ADASS networks.
Many thanks for your support in this valuable research