1. Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – to be completed quarterly from April 2024 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)

2. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC): Breaking down barriers to rewarding social care careers (information for all providers)

3. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC): New IPC guidance helps manage infections in care settings (information for all providers)

4. How well do you understand how the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is changing? (information for all providers)

5. Capacity Tracker DSCH Submission deadline for this month 14 February 2024, training dates (information for all providers)

6. CareFind is now available to all care homes (information for all care homes)

7. Reminder: Urgent Community Response Team (UCR): Support available for Care Homes’ urgent care needs (information for all Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

8. Reminder: CONSULTATION Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices ion on our guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices DEADLINE 20 February 2024 (information for all care homes)

9. Reminder: Skills for Care: Midlands activity provision network 15 February 2024 2:00pm - 4:00pm (information for West Midlands care homes)

10. Reminder: Kent Surrey Sussex Homecare Research Community of Experience - The role of homecare and other services in supporting adults' food and drink care needs 21 February 2024 (information for all home support providers)

11. Reminder: Hall Green Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) Younger Adults Showcase 22 February 2024 (information for providers in Hall Green)

12. West Midlands Care Association (WMCA) First Monthly Digital Surgery 6 March 2024 (information for all West Midlands providers)

13. Reminder: Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care Network 21 March 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

1. Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – to be completed quarterly from April 2024 (information for all Birmingham and contracted care homes)

The Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire will be issued for completion quarterly from now on. The next questionnaire will be issued in this bulletin on Thursday 4 April, with a completion deadline of Friday 19 April.

Completion of the questionnaire is part of the terms of our current contracts for all contracted care home providers, but we also asking non-contracted care homes in Birmingham 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 have completed the previous questionnaires. If this did not include your care home, please ensure that you complete in April 2024 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.

We will only be collecting data that we will use, and at the frequency we need it.

2. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC): Breaking down barriers to rewarding social care careers (information for all providers)

‘Made with Care’, DHSC’s national adult social care recruitment campaign, is here to support you in filling vacancies. The campaign emphasises the rewarding nature of care work, whilst also addressing the barriers to applying which some candidates experience.

There are lots of free and easy ways care organisations can benefit. To find out how, visit our dedicated website

There are also plenty of opportunities for organisations to get involved and shape the future of this recruitment drive, including chances to feature in the adverts and to share your valuable feedback.

Sign up to the campaign newsletter: Sign up (es-mail.co.uk)

3. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC): New IPC guidance helps manage infections in care settings (information for all providers)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) have published new guidance which consolidates existing infection prevention and control (IPC) advice for the adult social care sector.

It supports providers and the wider sector to plan for and manage a range of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Further updates on testing will be set out after 3 March 2024.

IPC remains vital to protect those receiving and giving care. This new guidance will make it easier for care colleagues, service users and visitors to find and follow best practice.

Read DHSC’s letter to care providers: ARI IPC guidance. DHSC Letter (skillsforcare.org.uk)

4. How well do you understand how the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is changing? (information for all providers)

The CQC are introducing a new regulatory model (See link below) based on a single assessment framework, which they have started to use across the country. Alongside this work the CQC are also starting to roll out their new provider portal.

new regulatory model

In 2023, the CQC launched a communication campaign to ensure all health and social care providers understood these changes, what it means for them and how they can prepare.

To help measure the success of this campaign, the CQC like to know how well you understand these changes in 2024. Share your feedback through this short survey:

short survey

5. Capacity Tracker DSCH Submission deadline for this month 14 February 2024, training dates (information for all providers)

The compliance window for this month will open on Thursday 8 February 2024 and will close on Wednesday 14 February 2024. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

6. CareFind is now available to all care homes (information for all care homes)

CareFind is a Free website available to all Adult Social Care, Care Home providers to promote their Care Home services and vacancies to self funders. The ability for all Care Home providers to create their unique public profile on CareFind is now available.

We recommend providers attend a training session as they provide support and understanding of how to complete the Public Profile, the benefits, and allow the opportunity for you to ask any questions.

To secure your training space, why not select one of the options below, or click below for more dates.

here

Date	Time	Link
Thursday 15 Feb 2024	14:00 - 15:30	Click Here to Book
Tuesday 20 Feb 2024	15:00 - 16:30	Click Here to Book
Wednesday 21 Feb 2024	14:00 - 15:30	Click Here to Book
Thursday 22 Feb 2024	11:00 - 12:30	Click Here to Book

7. Reminder: Urgent Community Response Team (UCR): Support available for Care Homes’ urgent care needs (information for all Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

Care Homes in Birmingham and Solihull are advised to contact the UCR in the first instance for receiving urgent care. The team can provide a rapid response service within two hours of your call. This referral service offers an alternative to calling an ambulance and helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions or readmissions. This service has highly skilled and dedicated clinicians who can deliver a rapid response to the urgent care needs of your residents or refer to the ambulance service if emergency hospital care is needed.

For further information, review the video and attachment;

https://vimeo.com/857526902/322f665305?share=copy

8. Reminder: Consultation - Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices ion on our guidance on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices: Deadline 20 February 2024 (information for all care homes)

The CQC are consulting on their proposed guidance (see link below) to help providers and other stakeholders understand and meet the new fundamental standard on visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals, and hospices and their roles and responsibilities under it. The guidance also sets out what people using health and social care services and their families, friends or advocates can expect.

This follows the government’s consultation during summer 2023 which found that most people supported the proposal to introduce a fundamental standard on visiting and being accompanied on

This consultation is limited to the CQC guidance about the new fundamental standard. It does not cover the scope and content of the visiting legislation itself, which was subject to a separate consultation by the government last year.

Given the timescales the government has set out for the regulation to come into force on 6 April 2024, the deadline for responses to the CQC consultation is midday on Tuesday 20 February 2024.

The CQC have published their draft guidance (see link below) on our website and invite members of the public and providers, their representatives, and other stakeholders to give their feedback through the online form or easy read version (see links below).

consulting on their proposed guidance

new fundamental standard

published their draft guidance

online form

easy read

9. REMINDER Skills for Care: Midlands activity provision network 15 February 2024 2:00pm to 4:00pm (information for West Midlands care homes)

This meeting will provide a learning space for staff involved in facilitating meaningful and stimulating activities with the people they support. The network will have a particular focus on the following topics:

• Supporting people with limited mobility
• Increasing the use of digital tools
• Developing skills and career progression for activity coordinators

Who should attend?

• Activity coordinators
• Staff involved in leading activities
• Managers seeking to improve activity provision in their service

This meeting will be run on Zoom. Registrations will close 90 minutes before the scheduled start of the event;

Register now

10. REMINDER Kent Surrey Sussex Homecare Research Community of Experience - The role of homecare and other services in supporting adults' food and drink care needs 21 February 2024 (information for all home support providers)

This online lunchtime event is aimed at updating providers on the findings from the above Wednesday 21 February, midday to 1:30pm.

NIHR SSCR-funded project

You can sign up to the event on Eventbrite's website.

Alongside support from healthcare and family or friends, home care services offer an important way of supporting older people to stay well and healthy, helping them to access the food and drink they want, when they want and how they want. This is not only important in reducing risks of malnutrition and dehydration, but also to help people live well at home and improve quality of life. This study was a first step in understanding what is already known about how homecare supports older people with food and drink, and give a clearer idea of what needs to be done in terms of research to build the evidence base, and how adult social care policy and practice can support older adults with food and drink in later life.

There will be brief presentations by the research team at the University of Kent, University of Surrey and Brighton and Sussex Medical School, as well as an opportunity for Q&A and discussion of the findings/recommendations.

For further information about this event and the research, email Dr Lavinia Bertini on l.bertini@bsms.ac.uk.

11. REMINDER Hall Green Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) Younger Adults Showcase 22 February 2024 (information for providers in Hall Green)

Join the Hall Green NNS for a showcase celebrating the work of community organisations supporting younger adults in Hall Green constituency.

This event is at The MAC, Cannon Hill Park, on Thursday 22 February 2024, 9:30am to 1:00pm. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. To request a copy, email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

Hall Green NNS Younger Adults Showcase Ticket Booking

12. West Midlands Care Association (WMCA) First Monthly Digital Surgery 6 March 2024 (information for all West Midlands providers)

The WMCA is working with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across the West Midlands to support the roll out of Digital Social Care Records and Sensor Based Falls and Prevention and Detection technology.

If you have any questions about the funding and how you access it, or you need help with the DSPT, feel free to join our monthly session every Wednesday at 10:00am. This will be an open session to support care providers in their ‘digital journey’. You can come along if you have any questions around DSCR i.e, how to procure a supplier, who are the assured suppliers, how to submit expression of interest or complete an application etc.. There will also be a short introduction explaining about the programme and the funding offer.

The first session with be Wednesday 6 March 2024, 10:00am – 11.00am on Microsoft Teams. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. To request a copy, email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

If you have any enquiries, please contact enquiries@wmca.digital

13. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care Network 21 March 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)

Birmingham and Solihull Nurses and Clinical Leads Network for Nurses working in Social Care would like to invite registered nurses to the next virtual network meeting for Thursday 21 March 2024 14.00pm to 16.30pm.

The meeting agenda will include relevant clinical nursing issues;

• Update on Dementia and End of Life
• Stop and Watch
• How to set up organisational learning meetings
• Update from the Social Care Advisory Board

There will be an update from BSOL Integrated Care Board, Skills for Care and West Midlands Care Association on support/resources for nurses.

To find out more about the meeting, and to book your place, follow this

Nurses and Clinical Leads Network (wmca.care)