What's New Bulletin 227 - 12 December 2024
This is edition 227 of the 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
1. Birmingham City Council, Public Health – Free Vaccinations (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
2. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) - Seasonal Vaccination Services for Autumn/Winter 2024/25 (AW24/25) (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
3. REMINDER CONSULTATION Birmingham City Council – Care Centres, Deadline 20 December 2024 (information for all Birmingham providers)
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council Route to Net Zero Team (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
5. REMINDER Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Change NHS: your chance to make social care part of the conversation (information for all providers)
6. REMINDER Care Quality Commission (CQC) update for adult social care providers - New online immigration status (eVisa) – To be completed by 31 December 2024 (Information for all Providers)
7. NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
8. REMINDER Skills for Care Birmingham and Solihull Updates for November/December 2024 (information for all providers)
9. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Commissioning Board (BSOL ICB)Support to Care Homes Training December 2024 various dates (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
10. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Commissioning Board (BSOL ICB) - Nurse Prescribing Course - deadline for applications 13 December 2024 (information for care homes with nursing in Birmingham and Solihull)
11. REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – IPC Virtual Training Session 13 December 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
12. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) - Bladder & Bowel Health TENA Virtual Training Sessions – 20 December 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes using Tena products)
1. Birmingham City Council, Public Health – Free Vaccinations (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
This winter, vaccinations are being offered free of charge to those most at risk of getting seriously ill from flu. This includes frontline health and social care workers.
Now is a great time to protect yourself against flu, especially as Birmingham NHS services are seeing many more adults and children with flu than this time last year.
You can book your flu vaccination appointment using the links below: You can also contact your GP surgery to book an appointment. Frontline health and social care workers may also be able to get a flu vaccine through their employer.
find a pharmacy that offers NHS flu vaccination
Visit the NHS website to find out more about the
This winter the Covid-19 vaccine is also available for those most at increased risk of serious illness, including frontline health or social care workers – visit the NHS website to find out how you can
2. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) - Seasonal Vaccination Services for Autumn/Winter 2024/25 (AW24/25) (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
The COVID campaign started on 3 October 2024 and ends on 20 December 2024, with some outreach vaccination continuing until 31 January 2025. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Please ensure to start the consent process prior to getting a date of visit confirmation, it will be helpful for the team visiting to vaccinate the residents to have those in hand prior to them visiting.
If the GP Practice you are aligned to is part of an active (vaccinating in phase) Primary Care Network (PCN) then they will arrange a date to visit the care home to vaccinate the residents. However, for those care homes that are not aligned to an active PCN, external providers will be contacting you to arrange a vaccination for your residents.
Please note, if you are unsure whether the external provider contacting you is the correct one, please contact the ICB Immunisations and Vaccinations Team nhsbsolicb.immsandvacs@nhs.net for verification. The team will be able to confirm the legitimacy of the external provider.
3. REMINDER CONSULTATION Birmingham City Council – Care Centres, Deadline 20 December 2024 (information for all Birmingham providers)
Birmingham City Council currently provides residential care for adults at three Care Centres across Birmingham – the Ann Marie Howes Centre; the Perry Trees Centre; and the Kenrick Centre.
The Council’s budget which was approved in March 2024 recommended a review of the Care Centres, to consider how the services they provide can be delivered as efficiently as possible. The review has been completed and has identified a range of options about how these services could be delivered more efficiently in the future.
The current consultation aims to gain feedback on the options available for the future of the care centres and on the preferred option. The preferred option is for the Council to stop operating these services in the future and for the Council to support current residents to find a new care home and to rent the current Care Centres to the NHS (or others).
The consultation questionnaire and the Care Centres public consultation documents which explains the current service, the outcome of the recent review and the range of options that are being consulted upon can be found here:
Care centre public consultation
If you live or work in Birmingham, we encourage you to have YOUR say about the future of our residential Care Centres. The online survey aims to capture your feedback on what the future of our Care Centres could look like under the proposed options and is available here:
Residential Care Centre's Consultation October 2024
The survey opened at midday on Monday 14 October 2024 and closes at midday on Friday 20 December 2024.
4. REMINDER Birmingham City Council Route to Net Zero Team (information for all Birmingham and Solihull providers)
The council is proud to be taking a leading role working with individuals, communities, businesses, and partners across the city to act now on the causes and impacts of climate change. On 11 June 2019 the council declared a climate emergency (see link below) and made a commitment to reduce the city’s carbon emissions and limit the climate crisis. As part of this declaration, an ambitious target was set for 'the council and city to become net zero carbon by 2030, or as soon as possible thereafter as a just transition allows', going beyond the Government's own net zero by 2050 target.
council declared a climate emergency
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Please note the support offered by Sustainable Supply Chains Birmingham & Solihull in the SSCBAS Support Brochure is only available until 24 December 2024.
5. REMINDER Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Change NHS: your chance to make social care part of the conversation (information for all providers)
The DHSC, in partnership with NHS England, has launched its most ambitious national conversation (See link below) about the NHS in its 76-year history. Your voices, experiences, and ideas are crucial in shaping a transformative 10-year Health Plan for England.
In her latest blog, Chief Nurse Deborah Sturdy emphasises the important role of social care stakeholders in providing long-term solutions. For example, social care nurses can contribute valuable expertise in delegated healthcare tasks, end-of-life care, and workforce development.
Social care can be a key partner in the Government's major shifts: moving ‘from analogue to digital’, ‘from sickness to prevention’, and ‘from hospital to community’. The campaign invites everyone, including care colleagues and individuals who use care services alike to contribute. Every perspective matters.
Launched on 21 October 2024 the chance to contribute to the conversation runs until the start of 2025. You can find out more here;
Change NHS: your chance to make social care part of the conversation – Social care
6. REMINDER Care Quality Commission (CQC) update for adult social care providers - New online immigration status (eVisa) – To be completed by 31 December 2024 (Information for all Providers)
The CQC are advising you of a change to some immigration documents. Biometric residence permits (BRP) and biometric residence cards (BRC), are being replaced with digital proof of immigration, called an eVisa.
From 31 October, new visa applicants are being issued with eVisas, and existing visa holders who currently prove their rights with a BRP, BRC or a passport containing a visa vignette or ink stamp, will need to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa. This needs to be completed by 31 December 2024.
Some helpful guidance on how to create an eVisa account:
Information on what people need to do and by when, including for those who hold a physical immigration document, and a list of grant funded organisations offering support, at:
Guidance videos explaining how to access and use eVisa, available at:
Online immigration status (eVisa): help videos - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Download the eVisa Partner Pack - this includes factsheets and guides for organisations, helpful materials to inform your colleagues/organisations you may collaborate with of the transition to eVisa, including a suggested email to send and drag and drop copy for intranets:
For further information please follow the link
Online immigration status (eVisa) - GOV.UK
7. NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
Have you visited the
Birmingham and Solihull training hub website
You can view information as someone working in a primary or social care role in the Birmingham/Solihull area, as a student looking for support with career development or as a visitor wanting to find out more.
To access all the training opportunities, y ou’ll need to register or log in to the Moodle page on the site. You can also contact the training hub by email or phone: Email: bsol.traininghub@nhs.net or Phone: 0121 483 2128
8. REMINDER Skills for Care Birmingham and Solihull Updates for November/December 2024 (information for all providers)
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
9. REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Commissioning Board (BSOL ICB)- Support to Care Homes Training December2024 various dates (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk. This includes details of the Support to Care Homes Team virtual training for all Care Home staffacross Birmingham and Solihull Care homes.
There are valuable informative training sessions this month on:
• Management of Deterioration
• Infection prevention
• Pressure Ulcer prevention
• Falls
• Dementia awareness
The training will be hosted by the Solihull Support to Care Homes Team and is open to all Care Home staff across Birmingham and Solihull care homes and joining details can be accessed via the BSol Healthzone Care Home App.
Instructions on how to download the BSol Healthzone Care Home App have been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk. Please see the previous bulletin item 3 here for further information about the App: What's New Bulletin 184 - 15 February 2024
Care services providers' bulletin
10. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Commissioning Board (BSOL ICB) - Nurse Prescribing Course - deadline for applications 13 December 2024 (information for care homes with nursing in Birmingham and Solihull)
The Department of Health and Nutrition has successfully secured new funding for registered nurses hoping to embark on the recently created nurse prescribing course (BSOL Nursing Homes). See Item 7 in the Weekly Bulletin 7 November:
What's New Bulletin 222 - 07 November 2024 - Care services providers' bulletin.
The application deadline for the February 2025 V300 programme and the funding offer is 13 December 2024. Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
Find out more here
11. REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – IPC Virtual Training Session 13 December 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes)
BCHC IPC have launched virtual Infection Control training sessions, please click the links below to join. Please contact the team at bchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net for further information.
Friday 13 December 2024 – 2:00pm
12. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) - Bladder & Bowel Health TENA Virtual Training Sessions – 20 December 2024 (information for Birmingham and Solihull care homes using Tena products)
BSOL are holding continence training in bladder and bowel health along with best and safe practice in TENA Continence Pad usage.
20 December 2024 – 10:00am – 11:00am
Further information about this subject has been circulated to providers. If you don’t have a copy, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
To book your place Contact Darren Clothier Darren.Clothier@Essity.com Tel 07721 244420